As Ripon Cathedral opens for private prayer, volunteers are needed to help make 11,000 origami angels which will form an art installation in its nave.

‘A Wing and a Prayer’ was launched in early May in conjunction with the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. The aim of the project is to create an installation that fills the nave with angels bearing prayers for those who have lost their lives to the coronavirus and other front line staff risking their own lives.

So far the project has raised over £130,000 which will be split between the charity and the cathedral.

People are asked to send in their prayers via the cathedral website to remember a loved one or a key worker; the prayers will then be said by the clergy during services and will also be borne by the origami angels hanging in the nave. Those leaving a prayer are also invited to make a donation.

Margaret Hammond, development manager of Ripon Cathedral Development Trust said:

“A number of our cathedral volunteers  (like Malcolm Hansom, pictured below) have already come forward and together with volunteers from Yorkshire Air Ambulance have made an amazing 2,000 origami angels.”

Margaret added:

“However, with at least 11,000 angels to create over the next month this is a huge challenge and we are now seeking more volunteers to get involved. Perhaps if you are shielding and have some spare time during lockdown you could help? Making the first origami angel may seem complicated but they become easier once you have made two or three!”

From 1st August, visitors and donors will have the opportunity to come and see the display – reflecting how people from the community have come together during these uncertain times to support one another.

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The Dean of Ripon, the Very Rev John Dobson, said:

“This project is doing several positive things and responding to a real desire on the part of many people to make their prayers in or through Ripon Cathedral. The angel art installation will be an expression of all of these including memories of some who have died and gratitude for both healing and the exceptional service provided by so many in society.”

Dean John, added:

“There is no doubt that the financial support resulting from all the generous donations is very welcome for ourselves and for Yorkshire Air Ambulance; for both of us income has been hit drastically during the time of lockdown.”

Further details about the Wing and A Prayer appeal and how to support it, are available on the Ripon Cathedral website.

Ripon Cathedral will open its doors to the public tomorrow for the first time since lockdown began.

Having been closed for more than 10 weeks under coronavirus legislation, the cathedral is among just a few places of worship in the Harrogate district which have decided to open for private prayer.

Government guidance has changed to allow places of worship to open for individuals. Nationally, leaders of different denominations have all issued advice, with each individual church to make its own decision over whether it is safe to open.

In the Harrogate district, Ripon Cathedral is one of those set to welcome people for prayer. Dean John Dobson said:

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St Peter’s Church in the centre of Harrogate will be open daily, except Sundays, from Monday, June 22. The church supports homeless and vulnerable individuals and families routinely, and this service has not stopped while the church building was closed to visitors. The vicar, Rev Alan Garrow said:

“We want to be open. We have been in a curious situation because we have been active all the time, with 2,500 takeaway hot meals served since lockdown.

“We will only be open for prayer between 12pm and 2pm because the food service takes a chunk out of our day.”

While many of the district’s church leaders will keep their buildings closed until they feel it is safe to open, they are continuing to make good use of technology to deliver online services. The Nidd Valley Methodist Circuit in Harrogate has also opened a dial-a-thought phone line, which people can ring to hear a message each morning if they are unable to access the churches’ online morning prayer.

Today’s 8pm tribute to the NHS workers has a colourful addition in one Ripon’s most prominent locations.

Red, white and blue bunting, consisting of flags and a message to the NHS reading ‘Big Thanks to our Amazing NHS Workers’ have been strung across  the bottom half of Kirkgate and fixed to the premises of shops and restaurants.

The street, one of the city’s prime shopping and leisure destinations, sweeps down from Market Place to Ripon Cathedral.

In addition to the bunting, numerous of the commercial premises, such as Pizzeria Ristorante Italiano (pictured above) have signs in their windows reading ‘Thank You NHS Heroes’ – this includes signs in businesses that have been temporarily closed because of the coronavirus crisis.

Marco Chessa, who has been running the pizzeria with his parents Mario and Maria, since the family moved to Ripon 16 years ago, told The Stray Ferret:

“It’s great to be flying the flag for the NHS and other front line workers, who put themselves in harm’s way every day to look after the rest of us. These are strange times indeed, but we should never lose sight of exactly what our healthcare workers are doing for us.”

The Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin, who has a large sign paying tribute to NHS and frontline workers fixed to a wall at his pub, The Magdalens, from where has been hosting Thursday night tributes to key workers in his neighbourhood for the past seven weeks, said of the Kirkgate traders’ tribute:

“This is yet another example of the way in which our city, with its strong sense of community, is showing the kind of unity and support that will eventually see the end of this crisis.”

Ripon Cathedral will be lit up red, white and blue again this evening, after the city came together to ensure the 75th anniversary of VE Day was marked in style.

The west frontage of the building had lights projected onto it as the sun set on Friday, and will have the same again tonight and tomorrow for its neighbours to enjoy.

It provides a fitting centrepiece for the celebrations in the city, where people have done all they could to ensure that those who wanted to mark the milestone were able to do so, despite the coronavirus lockdown.

The Mayor of Ripon, Coun Eamon Parkin, and Nigel Guy ensured The Magdalens was at the heart of BE Day celebrations for their neighbours

Among those upholding the commemorations was the Mayor of Ripon, Coun Eamon Parkin, co-owner of The Magdalens pub, where bunting and wartime music played through a loudspeaker provided neighbours with the opportunity to celebrate from their gardens. Coun Parkin also played Churchill’s speech marking the end of the war in Europe, reminding people of the reason for the day’s celebrations.

The heroes of Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) and other emergency services, are to be recognised in a special way at Ripon Cathedral, through the ‘Wing and a Prayer’ project.

The project will see the creation of origami paper angels, which will become part of an inspiring art installation in the nave, with each covered by requests for prayers, which members of the public can submit on an online form via the cathedral website.

People are being asked to donate ‘an angel’ to be placed inside the cathedral and the prayers that are placed on the angelic figures will be offered up by clergy during services.

Margaret Hammond, development manager at the cathedral, said:

“We are delighted that the Yorkshire Air Ambulance have agreed to partner with Ripon Cathedral to offer a way of individuals praying for their heroes, or remembering loved ones. At the same time, we look forward to raising funds to keep the YAA flying at this difficult time and to support the work of the cathedral in the community.”

The angels created through the ‘Wing and a Prayer’ project will be both downloadable and printable and in a format that can be shared on social media and placed in the windows of homes as a show of support for those who are working on the front line to keep communities safe during the cornavirus crisis and beyond.

Helen Callear, director of fundraising (North East) for Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said:

“This is a project very close to our charity’s heart and with event cancellations and fundraising activities on hold, the YAA needs all the support we can get to keep our helicopters in the air and saving lives across the region.

The planned commemorations for VE Day on Friday may have been called off, but the community in Ripon is preparing to ensure the 75th anniversary will not go unmarked despite the coronavirus lockdown.

The city council is calling on citizens to join in a city-wide clap at 3pm, while earlier in the day at 11am, Ripon Cathedral will host a virtual service on YouTube, featuring the Archbishop of York, The Most Rev Rt Hon Dr John Sentamu. Commemorative planting has already been completed as a public display to mark the anniversary.

Councillor Andrew Williams, chair of the the city council’s events committee, told The Stray Ferret:

“The significance of 3pm on May 8th is the fact that this was the time when Churchill spoke to the nation 75 years ago, signalling the end of the war in Europe.”

Cllr Williams added:

“As well as encouraging residents to join in a city-wide clap, we are asking them to decorate their windows red, white and blue. We are extremely disappointed that the three days of celebrations we planned had to be cancelled, but we must at least acknowledge the service and sacrifice of those who served in the second world war.”

The commemorative VE Day service at Ripon Cathedral can be watched via the cathedral’s website and will include singing from the Dishforth Military Wives Choir and music from the Black Dyke brass band. The Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Mrs Jo Ropner, will give a short reading and the Archbishop will give a brief reflection. As the service draws to a close, Tom Coxhead, the cathedral’s assistant organist, will play ‘Spitfire Prelude’ which William Walton wrote for the 1942 film ‘The First of the Few’.

Originally the cathedral was to have hosted a service for the county on VE Day, but as with its Easter Day and other services, is  using YouTube to reach out to the community.

Ripon Cathedral will make history on Sunday, when its Easter Day service is streamed live on YouTube, as the building remains closed to the public because of restrictions caused by the coronavirus crisis.

The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, whose roots go back more than 1300 years, is using the internet to ensure that the key day in the Christian calendar can still be shared by parishoners and other viewers, in their own homes.

The Dean of Ripon, The Very Reverend John Dobson, told the Stray Ferret:

“I will be leading the service, which will be shown live at 10.30am and the address will be given by the Bishop of Leeds, The Rt Reverend Nick Baines.”

The last Sunday service held in the cathedral was on the fourth Sunday of Lent, when just seven parishoners – spaced throughout the building to ensure social distancing was maintained – observed as the Dean conducted the Sung Eucharist. That service was also beamed live into approximately 100 homes.

As the government stepped up its advice on the need to adhere to measures to reduce social contact, the Church of England, in common with other faiths, closed all of its churches.

Those wishing to tune in to the Cathedral’s Easter Sunday service can do so via its website.

An Easter Day message from The Very Reverend Dobson, will be posted on The Stray Ferret on Sunday.