<div><font color="#000099">Sheffield Cathedral Media Release: Occupy Sheffield</font></div><div><font color="#000099">5 January 2012</font></div><div><font color="#000099">For immediate release</font></div><div><font color="#000099"><br>
</font></div><div><font color="#000099">The Dean and Chapter of Sheffield Cathedral today issued a final appeal to those occupying Sheffield</font></div><div><font color="#000099">Cathedral’s churchyard to vacate the site and clear their tents within a week so that the area can be</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">restored to full public use, and the work of the Cathedral continue unimpeded.</font></div><div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">Protestors from Occupy Sheffield have been camping on Sheffield Cathedral’s churchyard since 5</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">November 2011. Although the protestors have never had the Cathedral’s permission to be there, and</font></div><div><font color="#000099">have repeatedly been asked to leave, the Cathedral has acted generously towards the protest, seeking to</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">hear, along with ecumenical partners, the issues which are being raised.</font></div><div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">Reflecting on the Occupy movement’s aims, the Dean of Sheffield, the Very Revd Peter Bradley, said:</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">“This protest, globally and locally, has brought to wider attention issues of justice, poverty, and</font></div><div><font color="#000099">inequality, issues which have always concerned us at Sheffield Cathedral.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">It has challenged society to think more deeply about how we manage our financial systems, and</font></div><div><font color="#000099">how we care for those who are vulnerable.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">Sheffield Cathedral, in partnership with the Cathedral Archer Project, which works with the</font></div><div><font color="#000099">homeless and vulnerable in Sheffield, will continue responding to that challenge in the coming</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">months.</font></div><div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">However, the presence of Occupy Sheffield in the churchyard has caused disruption to</font></div><div><font color="#000099">Cathedral’s work.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">Services have been interrupted, staff time has been taken up with ensuring public safety on the</font></div><div><font color="#000099">forecourt, bookings for school visits and for our conference facilities have declined.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">As a small organization which receives no government funding and which supports its own</font></div><div><font color="#000099">charitable work through the Cathedral Archer Project, Sheffield Cathedral cannot afford this</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">continuing drain on its resources.”</font></div><div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">The Dean and Chapter have also noted that there appears to be little public engagement with the protest.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">The site is often left unattended. Debris has accumulated which is an eyesore and which prevents others</font></div><div><font color="#000099">from enjoying the area. Strong winds make tents unsafe. There are serious concerns about regular,</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">unattended open fires next to tents stacked full of wood and paper.</font></div><div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">The protestors have expressed their intention to continue their protest through 2012, raising concerns</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">that their presence will interfere with the Cathedral’s imminent development programme. The Gateway</font></div><div><font color="#000099">Project, which includes a new entrance, heating, flooring seating, lighting, and a visitor interpretation</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">scheme, will require full access to the forecourt by building contactors for preparatory work.</font></div><div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">The Dean made it clear that there have been numerous previous amicable requests, personally and in</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">writing, for the protest to end, but that these have not seen the protest moving on, even after occupiers</font></div><div><font color="#000099">set up an alternative site at the former Salvation Army Citadel in Cross Burgess Street. Although it hopes</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">for a sympathetic response from protestors and a peaceful end to the protest, the Cathedral Chapter is</font></div><div><font color="#000099">prepared to move to legal action to end the illegal trespass if the site is not vacated and cleared within a</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">week.</font></div><div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">Notes</font></div><div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">1. Details of the Gateway Project can be found on Sheffield Cathedral’s website: http://</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099"><a href="http://www.sheffieldcathedral.org/how-you-can-help/gateway-project.php">www.sheffieldcathedral.org/how-you-can-help/gateway-project.php</a> and widely in the</font></div><div><font color="#000099">media: e.g. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-11442729">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-11442729</a> and http://</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099"><a href="http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/local/cathedral_plans_5_4m_upgrade_1_2787579">www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/local/cathedral_plans_5_4m_upgrade_1_2787579</a> Some</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">parts of the project are already full funded; others await final funding approval.</font></div><div><font color="#000099"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099">2. Video evidence is available of the site being left unattended. Occupy Sheffield’s own General</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">Assembly minutes of 3 January 2012 refer to the same issue: <a href="https://occupywiki.org.uk/wiki/">https://occupywiki.org.uk/wiki/</a></font></div><div><font color="#000099">Sheffield/20120103</font></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On 5 January 2012 16:02, Carl Hutton <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:Carl.Hutton@sheffield-cathedral.org.uk">Carl.Hutton@sheffield-cathedral.org.uk</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div><p class="MsoNormal">Dear Occupy Sheffield<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Please see the attachment statement from Sheffield Cathedral<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Carl Hutton<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">General Manager<u></u><u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Church Street<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sheffield<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">S1 1HA<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">T: 0114 263 6079<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">F: 0114 279 7412<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">E: <span style="color:black"> <u><a href="mailto:carl.hutton@sheffield-cathedral.org.uk" target="_blank">carl.hutton@sheffield-cathedral.org.uk</a></u><u></u><u></u></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">W: <u><a href="http://www.sheffieldcathedral.org" target="_blank">www.sheffieldcathedral.org</a><u></u><u></u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Donate to Sheffield Cathedral with Just Giving:</b><b><u></u><u></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><a href="http://www.justgiving.com/sheffieldcathedral" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">www.justgiving.com/sheffieldcathedral</span></a><u></u><u></u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u></u> <u></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="111" height="30" src="cid:image001.png@01CCCBC3.7BE3F520" alt="cid:image001.png@01C93DA3.C20C2830"><span lang="EN-GB"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
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