Dear Friends

You will find below a letter from Nat Hone, Chair of the Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust bearing news of a great loss to the Cathedral Community, announcing as it does the retirement of Glyn Morgan after many years of extraordinary fundraising work. There is little for me to add to Nat’s letter except to say that in the year that I have known Glyn he has taught me much and proved a knowledgeable and loyal colleague and friend. I am sorry that we have had so little time working together but I hope that we can retain some connection. The Cathedral community owes him much and his retirement leaves some very big boots to fill. I’ll do my best to ensure that the person we charge with heading up development and fundraising is a worthy successor but know how difficult it will be to find someone with Glyn’s vision, creativity, and connections.

I’m sure you share my gratitude for all that Glyn has done for the cathedral and will join me in wishing him well and praying for him as he prepares to step away from a place and job that has, with all its faults and foibles, been a great focus and love for a quarter of a century. His chosen manner of departure seems absolutely typical of him, and I would like us to honour that choice, even though we might wish to make more noise about it. We wish him all the best for the next phase of his life working within a bigger funding framework.

Very best wishes

The Very Reverend Sarah Brown

Dean of Hereford

Announcement of the retirement of Glyn Morgan. Chief Executive of Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust

After 25 years of involvement with The Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust, first as a Trustee and then many years as the Chief Executive Officer, Glyn Morgan has decided to retire.

During this time, Glyn has driven the raising of some £27m through the Trust or by enabling funds given directly to the Cathedral Chapter.

Glyn developed and led the funding for most of the fabric projects that have been undertaken during his time. These include the beautiful remodelling of the Cathedral Close, the Willis organ restoration, the Eastern Cloister project and a number of extensive stone and roof repairs.

The Perpetual Trust was founded partly to build a Capital Fund to provide a sustainable and reliable income to help pay for the activities of the Cathedral. As a result of Glyn’s work, this stands at around £6m, a sum anticipated to grow over the coming years as a result of the groundwork that he has laid. Additionally, he secured funding for the establishment and development of the Education Department.

He has been a great ambassador for the Cathedral outside the Diocese and has created an enthusiastic group of supporters of the Cathedral abroad, especially in the US.  As well as supporting the various choir tours, he was the conduit for the invitations for the choir to sing in the Vatican and Bologna and coordinated the D-Day75 visit. Glyn has organised four tours of the Cathedral’s Magna Carta outside the UK.

Glyn also stepped in as Chapter Clerk for a time, demonstrating, as ever, his whole hearted commitment. In short, Glyn has been part of the beating heart of the Cathedral.

In 2017 he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his services to Hereford Cathedral and the community in Herefordshire, an honour presented by the Trust’s Patron the then Prince of Wales.

Retirement will not be quiet, as among other things he has been appointed as a member of the National Lottery Heritage Fund England: Midlands and East committee. He will also be involved in projects looking at the economic regeneration of the city and county as well as a number of trusteeships locally and elsewhere. We hope that he will continue to play a role with the Cathedral.

Looking forward, it has been decided that there should be a redistribution of the various types of fund-raising that a Cathedral needs to do to survive and thrive, between the Chapter of the Cathedral (who run it day-to-day) and the Trust.

Chapter plan to make two new appointments to head development, fundraise for fabric projects and seek donations and grants for the annual revenue needed to run the Cathedral.

The Trust will focus on its original purpose of augmenting its capital (some of which is in the form of endowment) to produce a sustainable income for Chapter, especially to support its Choral Tradition and Education. Our ambition is to be able to make an annual grant, in due course, to cover the whole cost of these wonderful and living treasures. The Trust will run its own events, in Hereford and elsewhere, to further this ambition in close cooperation with and the help of Chapter.

Glyn wants to end this stage of his time at the Cathedral quietly. He has the ambition of creating a specific Fund within the Trust whose income would support the Education Programme of the Cathedral. He would be pleased if you felt able to contribute towards it as a thank you for his wonderful contribution.

Any Donation should be sent to:

Education Fund, c/o Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust, 5 College Cloisters, Hereford HR1 2NG

Cheques made payable to Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust and online donations can be made by clicking here. Where Gift Aid can be claimed, this will be also be applied to the fund. Any other queries, please email Georgina Miller ([email protected]).

We wish him all the very best for the future and thank him again for all he has done for the Trust.

Nat Hone

Chair of Trustees.

Glyn will be retiring in December 2022. Donations for the Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust Education Fund (Registered Charity No.1051168) can be made online via CAF Donate: cafdonate.cafonline.org/21755. For more information about Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust, please click here.