Choir campaign may go to court
SHEFFIELD: Campaigners say they are considering seeking legal advice over a decision to close down Sheffield Cathedral’s choir.
The campaign to save the choir began after the Dean and Chapter of Sheffield Cathedral announced the closure would allow it to better reflect the city’s “mixed urban community”.
CAMPAIGNERS SAY they are considering seeking legal advice over a decision to close down Sheffield Cathedral’s choir, which will result in redundancies and put scholarships at risk.
The campaign to save the choir began after the Dean and Chapter of Sheffield Cathedral announced last week that the closure would allow it to better reflect the city’s “mixed urban community”.
The decision will make three professional musicians, or ‘lay clerks’, redundant and threaten the scholarships of five student singers, the campaigners say.
The Save Sheffield Cathedral Choir group has described the decision as “reckless, short-sighted and opportunistic”, adding that it was considering a legal challenge to the move on the grounds of “unfair dismissal”.
A statement from the group said: “The approach taken by the Dean and Chapter to close Sheffield Cathedral Choir has proven reckless, short-sighted and opportunistic. We are considering a legal challenge to the decision on the basis of unfair dismissal on three grounds: lack of clear reasons given; spurious claims around diversity and inclusion; and the cynical timing of their announcement, without sufficiently notifying employees, during the choir holidays, and in the middle of a global pandemic.”
The cathedral, meanwhile, said it noted the group’s plans but there has been no suggestion that its tradition of choral music will end altogether. A spokeswoman for the cathedral told The Yorkshire Post: “The Dean and Chapter of Sheffield Cathedral have at no time suggested there will be no choral music in the future at the cathedral. They look forward to a revitalised choral tradition in the coming years.
“We note this group’s intention to challenge the decision to close the choir in its current form.”
A petition calling for the Dean and Chapter to reconsider the decision to close the choir had gained 4,000 signatures in its first four days online, with the group saying it was “humbled” by the scale of support in such a short period of time.