[OccupySheffield] [OccupySheffieldPrivate] Media Statement from Sheffield Cathedral

[Joe]

Sheffield Cathedral Media Release: Occupy Sheffield
5 January 2012
For immediate release

The Dean and Chapter of Sheffield Cathedral today issued a final appeal to
those occupying Sheffield
Cathedral’s churchyard to vacate the site and clear their tents within a
week so that the area can be
restored to full public use, and the work of the Cathedral continue
unimpeded.

Protestors from Occupy Sheffield have been camping on Sheffield Cathedral’s
churchyard since 5
November 2011. Although the protestors have never had the Cathedral’s
permission to be there, and
have repeatedly been asked to leave, the Cathedral has acted generously
towards the protest, seeking to
hear, along with ecumenical partners, the issues which are being raised.

Reflecting on the Occupy movement’s aims, the Dean of Sheffield, the Very
Revd Peter Bradley, said:

“This protest, globally and locally, has brought to wider attention issues
of justice, poverty, and
inequality, issues which have always concerned us at Sheffield Cathedral.

It has challenged society to think more deeply about how we manage our
financial systems, and
how we care for those who are vulnerable.

Sheffield Cathedral, in partnership with the Cathedral Archer Project,
which works with the
homeless and vulnerable in Sheffield, will continue responding to that
challenge in the coming
months.

However, the presence of Occupy Sheffield in the churchyard has caused
disruption to
Cathedral’s work.

Services have been interrupted, staff time has been taken up with ensuring
public safety on the
forecourt, bookings for school visits and for our conference facilities
have declined.

As a small organization which receives no government funding and which
supports its own
charitable work through the Cathedral Archer Project, Sheffield Cathedral
cannot afford this
continuing drain on its resources.”

The Dean and Chapter have also noted that there appears to be little public
engagement with the protest.
The site is often left unattended. Debris has accumulated which is an
eyesore and which prevents others
from enjoying the area. Strong winds make tents unsafe. There are serious
concerns about regular,
unattended open fires next to tents stacked full of wood and paper.

The protestors have expressed their intention to continue their protest
through 2012, raising concerns
that their presence will interfere with the Cathedral’s imminent
development programme. The Gateway
Project, which includes a new entrance, heating, flooring seating,
lighting, and a visitor interpretation
scheme, will require full access to the forecourt by building contactors
for preparatory work.

The Dean made it clear that there have been numerous previous amicable
requests, personally and in
writing, for the protest to end, but that these have not seen the protest
moving on, even after occupiers
set up an alternative site at the former Salvation Army Citadel in Cross
Burgess Street. Although it hopes
for a sympathetic response from protestors and a peaceful end to the
protest, the Cathedral Chapter is
prepared to move to legal action to end the illegal trespass if the site is
not vacated and cleared within a
week.

Notes

1. Details of the Gateway Project can be found on Sheffield Cathedral’s
website: http://
www.sheffieldcathedral.org/how-you-can-help/gateway-project.php and widely
in the
media: e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-11442729and
http://
www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/local/cathedral_plans_5_4m_upgrade_1_2787579Some
parts of the project are already full funded; others await final funding
approval.

2. Video evidence is available of the site being left unattended. Occupy
Sheffield’s own General
Assembly minutes of 3 January 2012 refer to the same issue:
https://occupywiki.org.uk/wiki/
Sheffield/20120103

On 5 January 2012 16:02, Carl Hutton <Carl.Hutton at sheffield-cathedral.org.uk
> wrote:

> Dear Occupy Sheffield****
>
> ** **
>
> Please see the attachment statement from Sheffield Cathedral****
>
> ** **
>
> * *
>
> *Carl Hutton*
>
> *General  Manager*
>
> ** **
>
> The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul****
>
> Church Street****
>
> Sheffield****
>
> S1 1HA****
>
> ** **
>
> T:   0114 263 6079****
>
> F:   0114 279 7412****
>
> E:   *carl.hutton at sheffield-cathedral.org.uk*****
>
> W:  *www.sheffieldcathedral.org*
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *Donate to Sheffield Cathedral with Just Giving:***
>
> *www.justgiving.com/sheffieldcathedral*
>
> * *
>
> [image: cid:image001.png at 01C93DA3.C20C2830]****
>
> ** **
>
> _______________________________________________
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> OccupySheffieldPrivate at email-lists.org
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