It was with great happiness that I read this week that St Columb's Cathedral in Londonderry has received the great honour of a King's Award for Voluntary Service (KAVS) - the highest honour your organisation or group can receive for voluntary activity in your community.
A King's Award is a lifetime award and is reserved for volunteer groups which have displayed exemplary voluntary service in their community. Considered to be equivalent to an MBE, I am not in the least bit surprised that the Cathedral has received this accolade, and if I'm being honest, it is a long overdue 'gong' for the oldest of our ecclesiastical sisters here in the magical Maiden City.
When you consider the incredible festivals, the daily welcoming of tourists and visitors, the showstopping events and celebrations that occur in this building, on top of a giddy weekly roster of church services, rehearsals for the various choirs, the maintenance, and the outreach that this church and her team undertake, it is a wonder the Cathedral staff would even entertain something as compact and bijou as my own wedding (just 16 people) - but they pulled out all the stops for me.
To the best of my knowledge, and I am happy to be corrected, I am the only bride ever to have staged their wedding in the 'museum room' of St Columb's in it's 400+ year history, with the then Dean of Derry (Rt Rev Dr Wm Morton) conducting the service.
Well done the Cathedral. It has been a long time coming, but you have so earned this recognition many, many times over.