Christmas wishes to all our friends

We had our team Christmas lunch in Durham and couldn't resist this shot with Durham Cathedral in the background.

It’s been a busy time in the Friends Office the last few months…

November saw the final Quiz Night by Quiz Master Elizabeth Morgan – and she didn’t go easy on us!

It was a great evening with friends, laughter and lots of cheese. It was lovely to see so many of our Friends in Prior’s Hall for a great send off for Elizabeth. The winning team scooped up prize of chocolates, kindly donated by Maureen Potter, and we held a raffle of Friends goodies and fizz.

December

We started the month with the huge honour of, once again, The Friends of Durham Cathedral being added to the Liber Vitae (‘Book of Life’), with others who are recognize as contributing to the life and work of Durham Cathedral in notable way.

Christine Lightfoot, Honorary Secretary of the Friends of Durham Cathedral, commented: "It's a privilege and honour to see the Friends included this year. It's also wonderful to see former Friends of Durham Cathedral Executive member Margaret Stamp recognised. Margaret has dedicated her life's work to the Friends of Durham Cathedral and we are thrilled for Margaret”.

We were kindly asked to join the Dean and other volunteers and guests to a gathering in the Solarium of the Deanery. It was a lovely opportunity to meet long serving volunteers and other major donors and benefactors whose names were added to the Liber Vitae too.  After a thankful speech by Philip Plyming, Dean of Durham, we had our photograph taken alongside our name in the Liber Vitae.

The Friends with Liber Vitae

We thank all of our Friends and Donors for continuing to support our work and Durham Cathedral.

Durham Christmas Festival:

This year we swapped the marquee for a spot outside the Undercroft Restaurant and Shop in Durham Cathedral and what a fantastic time we had!

It was lovely being in the Undercroft Foyer this year and the Durham Cathedral staff were wonderful.

Huge thank you to our team of volunteers who joined us on the Friends Christmas stall in Durham Cathedral, we had a great, busy 3 days (and Billie who kept us in Tea and Coffee too!). Lots of fun and laughter was had and it was lovely to meet our visitors, both local and from afar, and those who became new members too.

Thank you to all who gave donations to our stall especially to Christine and her wonderful knitting and to Andrew donating some beautiful vintage crotchet cross bookmarks.

Thank you to all our wonderful customers who came along and help our fundraising efforts – and we must say a special thank you to The Dean, Philip Plyming, who gave our stall a shout-out in the St Nicholas Service!

Friends Christmas Concert:

Our annual Friends Christmas Concert is one of the biggest events we hold of the year and such a great time to get the community together, local groups and performers and showcase some of the talents we have in the North East and get into the festive spirit.

We were joined by 150 members of Rock Choir NE, Consett Citadel Salvation Army Band and the angelic voices of the Chamber Choir of Durham Cathedral Young Singers for our annual Friends Christmas Concert. We were warmly welcomed to Durham Cathedral by The Dean of Durham, Philip Plyming and our Chair, Caroline Peacock, before joining in with an evening of carols and Christmas classics.

We were delighted that so many people enjoyed the evening that they joined to become Friends members too!

All funds raised by the Friends support heritage and conservation projects at Durham Cathedral so we really appreciate all those who joined us at the concert, became a member, left a donation or visited the Friends Table this year. We thank you all for supporting us this year.

Merry Christmas to everyone and we look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!

Best wishes to you all,

The Friends of Durham Cathedral

(Our Office will be closed 24^th December – 5^th January 2026)