Celebrating and Giving Thanks for our Volunteers

Did you know Sheffield Cathedral is blessed to have nearly 150 volunteers? Each and every one of our volunteers cares passionately about this building as a place of worship, a place of learning, a place of education, a place of music, a place of heritage, a place of community, a place of joy and celebration and so much more….

From giving visitors a warm welcome to sharing the history of the building as part of a tour or school visit, from chatter groups to community choirs, from beautiful flowers to the tolling of bells, from conservation of the building to assisting in the cathedral shop, from helping at events to supporting services, all our volunteers, whatever they do make a huge difference to the life and work of this Cathedral. Thank you.

There are so many people who generously volunteer their time here and we love them all. However, one volunteer, John Holding, known affectionally to us as Dr Wizard, recently received some special attention when he was invited to a royal garden party at Buckingham Palace, in recognition of his volunteering services to the Cathedral during the COVID pandemic.

Every Sunday, without fail, John gave up his time to come into the Cathedral early and using his own equipment, he set up cameras and microphones so everyone could follow the Sunday morning service from the safety of their own homes. Dean Abi said: ‘John volunteered his time to us so generously and undoubtedly he was the inspiration behind the Cathedral stepping into this new world of technology. We now have our own equipment capable of streaming worship regularly, and there is a developing new team of volunteers supporting this work. John’s invitation to Buckingham Palace was richly deserved – I’m delighted for him!’

If you’re interested in finding out about volunteer opportunities at the cathedral please contact us.