Plucky fundraisers who took a leap of faith by abseiling 90 ft down Coventry Cathedral have raised more than £2,300 for the city’s foodbank.
The nine daring volunteers were among those descending from the top of the cathedral on Saturday (August 1st) giving the charity a much-needed boost following news last week of its record-low food stocks.
Foodbank founder Canon Gavin Kibble MBE said: “It’s been quite a torrid time for us. If you’d walked around the warehouse a few weeks ago we only had enough donations for about two weeks.
“The food supplies are down but the number of people needing food is up and the gap between food coming in and food going out had widened dramatically over the last few months.
“But with the grateful support of so many people in Coventry through food a donations and financial support, and events like this abseil, we have been able to bring things back so we are secure now until September and we’re extremely grateful to the people of Coventry for that.”
One of the fundraisers, Ryan Fisher, said: “We’ve done a couple of volunteering events through my work at Unipart and I’ve seen the fantastic work that the foodbank does, especially through the cost of living crisis etc. I heard about the abseil and thought that’s a bit of me!
“It’s so important. You can see the smiles on people’s faces and how much it means to people.”
Leanne Friel took part on behalf of P3 charity, which supports people facing eviction and homelessness. She was joined by her colleagues Avril Pope, Teresa Beech and Kelly-Anne Cooper.
She said: “We know how important the foodbank is through the people we support at the charity. I was really scared at first but the people really reassured me coming down. It wasn’t the most elegant abseil but I’m proud that I completed it.”
Founded in 2011, Coventry Foodbank has grown from a small community initiative into a vital service supporting thousands of local people each year. Over the past 15 years, the organisation has worked in partnership with local churches, schools, businesses, and referral agencies to provide emergency food parcels and compassionate support to those in crisis.
As well as the abseil, there was a family-friendly activity tent set up in the Old Cathedral grounds.
Coventry Cathedral is most famously known for being bombed during WW2, which left it, and much of the city centre, in ruins.
Its destruction touched the hearts of many countries around the world, who contributed and gifted elements of the building of the New Cathedral. The decision to leave the Ruins as they were after the Blitz became a powerful global symbol of peace building and forgiving enemies. Standing in union with the New Cathedral, the two cathedrals stand as a powerful symbol of peace across nations.
