Dear Friends and Supporters,

We, the two Martins, would like to apologise for not keeping you better informed in a newsletter about what was happening in 2018, but much of our time and effort was spent on trying to secure as large a grant as possible from the EU for the restoration of the cathedral and tower/spire.  After an intense and complex EU funding application process lasting most of last year (including a Cost Benefit Analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers which concluded this was a most cost-effective project!), we were absolutely delighted to receive at Christmas time an extremely generous EU grant of 4.2 million euros for Phase 1 of the Restoration Project.  Combined with our own co-financing contribution of over 1 million euros, we now have a budget of 5.25 million euros.

The grant would not have been possible without the unstinting work of the whole Architecture Project team, our Project Manager Guillaume Dreyfuss and Project Administrator Godfrey Kenely, and the guidance and support of the Minister for EU Funds and his staff in the Project Selection Committee and Managing Authority.

Depending on its availability, it is hoped to secure further EU funding for Phase 2 of the project, which will focus on the roof and ceiling of the Cathedral – amounting to another 3 or 4 million euros.

And finally work is getting under way! 

 

REFURBISHMENT PLANNING AND PROGRESS

The Tower:  (Phase 1) This is the most vulnerable part of the cathedral and its immediate repair and reconstruction is imperative. Exterior scanning and geo- radar checks have revealed the unexpected presence of iron bracing around the top of the tower where it meets the spire, showing signs of corrosion.. World War II bomb damage has also been discovered.

Bids for the first tenders will be coming in imminently, so hopefully work can begin in only a month or two.  Already you can see that netting has been secured at the top of the tower by a special team of abseilers, to ensure that no rocks or debris can fall on people and workers below when work starts.

The Cathedral:  (Phase 1) Repair of the external fabric of the church is also scheduled under Phase 1.  Our architects, Architecture Project, have spent two years on the detailed analysis of the state of the fabric and structural stability of the Cathedral, to be completed in 2021.  They have exposed areas of work which were undertaken on a ‘make and mend’ basis over the last 50 years.

You can find further information on the restoration project, including the areas in need of restoration on our website www.www.savethecathedral.com

There is also an excellent piece on the home page (latest news) of the Diocese of Europe website; www.europe.anglican.org

 

RESTORATION APPEAL

Our task as the Save Valletta’s Skyline Restoration Appeal is to find the necessary 20% co-financing of the project as required for all EU-funded projects, as well as the payment for professional and technical fees.

The Restoration Appeal Committee has raised over 1 million euros to date, through the generosity of donors from Malta and abroad, including charitable trusts, large corporate donors and HRH The Prince of Wales, as well as the Archdiocese of Malta and the Bishop of Gozo.

But we need at least a further 1 million euros to complete the project by the end of 2021.

PRINCIPAL PARTNERS (€100,000 – €250,000)
The Beatrice Laing Foundation
The Cameron Mackintosh Foundation
The Kirby Laing Foundation
Mr Mehmet Kutman
Dato Yeoh Seok Hong
PARTNERS (€25,000 – €100,000)
The Martin Laing Foundation
The Schroder Foundation
ASSOCIATE PARTNERS (€10,000 – €25,000)
Dr and Mrs A Agius	Dr Sham Li
Farsons Limited	Miller Distributors
The Mizzi Foundation	Mr Roger Davis and Family
Mr and Mrs Sean Paterson	The Cayzer Trust
The Michael Marks Charitable Trust	The Tumas Group
The Vodafone Foundation	Mrs Silvia Gosnell
Mr and Mrs Stuart Bannister
SUPPORTERS  (€1,000 – €10,000)
APS Bank and the Arch-Diocese of Malta	The Dean and Chapter of Westminster
Gasan Mamo Insurance	Mr and Mrs Pierre Chomarat
Mr and Mrs Ian Maitland	Mr Patrick Hamilton Hill
Capt and Mrs Peter Ross	Mrs Simone Mizzi
Mr and Mrs Stuart Murray	Citadel Insurance
The Diocese of Gozo	The Micky and Jane Ingall Trust
The Tanner Trust	Lord and Lady Aldenham
The Wilkinson Family	The ADRE Trust
The Today Public Policy `Institute	The Radisson Blu Guest collection

There are many people who continue to give smaller but most valuable donations, for which we are equally grateful – we have a long way to go and every bit of support is important to us.  You can contribute through our website www.www.savethecathedral.com

EVENTS FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE OF THE RESTORATION APPEAL

A good part of the money already raised has been through the stupendous efforts of EAT, the Events Action Team, here in Malta, headed by Tony Guillaumier, with Stephanie Laing and Christopher Wicker, and the London committee, headed by Joanna Oswin and Carolinda Maitland. Both committees have been tireless and energetic in planning and executing a variety of different events. They have been supported by generous and steadfast sponsorship from Maltese and British companies for these events.

As you can see, we are doing very well through their efforts but we still clearly need to raise much more money if this ambitious and important heritage project is to be completed.

Past Events 2018 – 19

EVENT	2018	€ RAISED
Messiah – Choral Society of Western Australia	January	13,503
‘Young Eyes on Valletta’ (further sales)	January	1,953
Quiz night, The Undercroft Cafe	April	3,595
Quiz night /sales of ‘Young Eyes on Valletta’		330
Notions, Nostalgia & Nonsense Poetry Night(1)	April	3,626
Concourse d’Elegance	May	732
St Martin in the Fields, London (concert and reception)	June	12,162
Corpus Christi Concert, British High Commission	June	3,757
Skyline Ball, Palazzo Parisio	July	38,111
Michael Collins lunch and lecture ‘St George and the Dragons’	November	1,570
SOS ABBA Revival concert,  Ta’ Gianpula	November	25,561
St Paul’s Choral Society concert	December	2,887
Christmas Open House	December	5,531
	2019
Shop sales	February	961
Folly, Fantasy & Feeling Poetry Night (2)	February	7,721
Lecture by James Holland ‘ Fortress Malta; An island Under Siege’	March	6,229
Blockchain for Beginners lecture	March	1,200
Cabaret Bingo Night, Bunga Bunga Club, Battersea Bridge, London	March	GBP 2,200

Some of the forthcoming events 2019-2020

Lecture by Surgeon Read Admiral Lionel Jarvis CBE KSTJ  DL FRCR, Prior of the Priory of England and the Islands of the Venerable Order of St John – further details tbc	3 October 2019
Quiz Night 2 – by popular demand – further details tbc	October 2019
175th  Anniversary Service for St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral	1 November 2019
Saturday Night Fever: featuring Saturday Night Bee GeesTa’ Gianpula – further details tbc	9 November 2019
Rembrandt & the Crying Boy, talk by Martin Royalton-Kisch – further details tbc	March 2020
Easter Concert at the Cathedral	7 April 2020
Spring Into Summer Design Days – Talks by experts on interior and garden design – further details tbc	May 2020
Forties Night – Big Band and Jitterbug	18 September 2020

Updates and further information about upcoming events are available on our websites.  A new app (St Paul’s Cathedral and Visitor Centre, Valletta) will shortly be available for IOS and Android.  And there will be further details in the next  (Summer) newsletter.

If you, or anyone you know, would be interested in working with the EAT Committee or the London committee and/or if you have any bright ideas for fundraising, we would be delighted to hear from you.

 Please contact Petra Galea Debono at petragd@guisthall.com or on 27229169 Mon-Fri during working hours.

May we take this opportunity to thank every one of you, those who have contributed financially, those who have worked so hard on the fund raising committees, those who have attended our events and those who have sponsored them.  We are enormously grateful to all of you for your continued support.

Martin Laing and Martin Scicluna

Joint Chairmen, Save Valletta Skyline Restoration Appeal

St Paul’s Restoration Appeal Committee

LCdr Clive Bennington, Josephine de Bono, Josef Camilleri, Bernice Caruana, Baron Gino Trapani Galea Feriol, The Reverend Canon Simon Godfrey, Michael Grech, Anthony Guillaumier, Sir Martin Laing, Michael Lowell, Ian Maitland, Marina Lady Marks, Malcolm Miller, Joanna Oswin, Sean Paterson, The Marquis de Piro,  Caroline Scallon, Martin Scicluna, Janatha Stubbs, Conrad Thake, Charlotte de Trafford, Simon Walker, Christopher Wicker, Edward Woods, Antoine Xuereb

Events Action Team (EAT)

Anthony Guillaumier, Jean Attard, Mags and Simon Barnes, Sue Browne, Vanessa Coleiro,
Janette Danel, Francesca Del Rio, Jim Dunn, Alex Gregory, Kirsten Grenside, Vicky Heather, Diana Jervis-Read, Stephanie Laing, Simon Manduca, Michele O’Reilly, Lucy Paterson, Clara Roberts,
Lorie Scicluna, Karen Steed, Christopher Wicker, Petra Galea Debono

UK Events Committee

Joanna Oswin, Carolinda Maitland, Sibella Laing, Caroline Scallon, Jenni Enslow, Diana Jervis-Read, Boo Nicholson

Newsletter

 

Lorie Scicluna