Get Involved
Youth Engagement
At Exeter Cathedral we’ve created multiple pathways for young people to get involved – whether through volunteering, work experience, internship, group visits, or as part of our Youth Panel. Each opportunity helps young people build skills, confidence, and connections whilst helping us become a more welcoming and relevant space for young communities across Exeter and Devon.
Volunteering
Our volunteer roles offer flexible, ongoing opportunities for young people to contribute to Cathedral life whilst developing practical skills. From Flower Arranging and Event support to becoming a Virger, volunteering at the Cathedral lets young people explore different interests, build their CV, and become part of our community. We are delighted that so many of our brilliant youth volunteers are able to use their experience volunteering with us to gain employment, further volunteering, or a place on their chosen education course.
“The Spotlight Tour Guide program at Exeter Cathedral was absolutely essential to my career progression in the Heritage sector. The months I spent researching and subsequently delivering my customised tour on the Cathedral’s South Tower and its key memorials were not only great fun but also provided me with the necessary experience to draw in job interviews.” – Johnny, Exeter Cathedral Spotlight Tour Guide
Youth Panel
Each year from September to March, we welcome 18–25 year olds to join our Cathedral Youth Panel and share their insight into how we can make the Cathedral more engaging and accessible to young people.
The Cathedral’s first Youth Panel was established to help shape our Treasures Exhibition, with young people directly influencing font design, colour schemes, and object placement. Since then, the Youth Panel has continued to be a valued group within the Cathedral, working with different departments to help us maximise our offer to visitors and connect young people with their local heritage. Being part of the Youth Panel gives young people a genuine voice in decision-making, helping them develop confidence and communication skills and to also see how the Cathedral works behind the scenes.
Work Experience
Since 2023, we’ve welcomed 52 work experience placements to the Cathedral, from year 10 students exploring different career paths to college students training in specialist roles like stonemasonry. Our placements span Cathedral departments, offering young people and adults the chance to experience real work in heritage, hospitality, and skilled trades.
Internships
We have worked with the University of Exeter – most commonly through their Access to Internships scheme – to offer structured internship placements within our Project Team. These longer-term opportunities give students deeper experience within the Cathedral, allowing them to develop the specialist skills that will help them in their future employment.
Get involved: If you’re interested in any of these opportunities, please email Youth Engagement Officer [email protected]
Medieval Hall Consultation Sessions
We’ve been delighted to welcome so many of you to our public consultation sessions in the Cathedral nave and the recently acquired Medieval Hall (8 Cathedral Close). Over 900 of you came to look at our development proposals and to share your ideas about future community engagement activities. For many years the Medieval Hall was not in Cathedral hands, so visitors also shared their stories of the building, including shopping there when it was Chandni Chowk and Helen of Troy, running parent and toddler groups there, and going into the building to retrieve case files when it was a repository for a law firm.
You gave us a wealth of suggestions for events and activities that you’d like us to deliver, from food tasting to costumed balls, spiritual retreats to Dungeons and Dragons, providing us with rich ideas to develop into future projects.
You also shared thoughts on our capital development plans for the Hall and the buildings around the Cloister Garden. Thanks to a generous grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund, we are on our way to starting conservation work to renovate and improve the Medieval Hall. We hope that it will soon become a wonderful new space for community activities.
Our Community Projects
Thanks to support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Exeter Cathedral has introduced an exciting new programme of activities and events for people in and around Exeter. Take a look below to see how we’ve been engaging communities with their local heritage.
The Votives Project: From the Vow Made
March 2025 – June 2025
From The Vow Made was a landmark sculptural installation created as part of our Votive Project led by international award-winning artists Neil Musson and Jono Retallick,. The artwork featured 1,000 wax objects made by 1,000 people in Devon and was suspended from Exeter Cathedral’s magnificent nave.
Inspired by the theme of ‘giving thanks’, each of the 1,000 objects, or votives, included in the installation was hand-crafted out of local Devon beeswax during public workshops and sessions with local schools and community groups. Each object represents something for which each person is grateful.
The project was inspired by Exeter Cathedral’s medieval votive collection. The moulded votive offerings were hung around the tomb of Bishop Edmund Lacy (c. 1370-1455) by pilgrims seeking cures through the bishop’s saintly influence.
Modern Misericords
August 2024 – May 2025
The Modern Misericord project worked with the local community to create a new set of misericords inspired by Exeter Cathedral’s 49 medieval tip-up seats, to be featured in the Cathedral’s new Treasures Gallery exhibition space.
Led by Woodcarver, William Barsley, the project began with the Misericord Design Challenge, inviting members of the public to submit their designs for a new misericord. Competition winners Benji, Leyla, Maxine and Thomas had the opportunity to create their winning designs out of clay before helping Woodcarver, William Barsley, bring the creations to life. Will also held workshops for members of the public to have a go at woodcarving. The final creations will be displayed in Exeter Cathedral’s Treasures Gallery – a new exhibition space that will safely display our fascinating Library & Archive collections, for everyone to enjoy.
Textile Project
July 2024 – August 2025
The Textile Project was a collaboration between artist, Davina Kirkpatrick, and communities in Exeter to co-create a unique piece of textile art to be displayed in Exeter Cathedral’s new Treasures Gallery exhibition space. The artwork is inspired by the Cathedral’s textile collections, including vestments, rondels, banners and alter cloths, in addition to themes of birth (new beginnings/growth) marriage (union/love) and death (grief/loss). The project has involved local community groups, including St Petrock’s Centre, CoLab, Hikmat and CoLab and Exeter College students in addition to members of the local community during public workshops at Exeter Library. Each person involved has created a ‘textile jewel’ inspired by one of the major themes which will then be incorporated into a larger triptych piece. The final artwork is now on display in the Exeter Cathedral Treasures Exhibition – a new exhibition space showcasing one thousand years of Cathedral history, alongside a range of community artwork. The Textile Project is kindly supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Soundscape Project
March 2024 – August 2025
The Exeter Cathedral Soundscape Project created a soundscape that is played on the way into the Treasures Exhibition, supporting visitors in engaging with their sensory experience by using sounds that represent the Cathedral. Soundscape Artists Nicole Redfern and Daniel Harvey worked alongside the local community through workshops and collaborations, using sounds of the Cathedral to create the new soundscape.
As part of this project, Nicole and Daniel ran workshops for local community participant groups, supporting them to develop original creative outputs which will complement the final soundscape. One group Nicole and Daniel worked with is the Media and Performing Arts faculty at Exeter College. The students responded to a creative brief, composing their own short soundscapes using the sounds of the Cathedral as inspiration.
Nicole and Daniel also ran a series of public Sound Walks encouraging participants to tune into and listen more closely to the sounds of the Cathedral, encountering and experiencing the space in a new way.
Inlaid Tiles Project
March 2024
The Inlaid Tiles Project will work with the local community to co-create a tile design that will border the Chapter House floor, repurposing previously used medieval tiles. So far the project has included ‘tile scrubbing sessions’ to clean the medieval tiles ready for use and carefully cataloguing each tile.
Youth Panel
September 2023 – Present
A panel of 16-25 year olds met at Exeter Cathedral to discuss ways we can introduce innovative new ways to tell our story, to people of all ages and from all backgrounds. Participants shared their ideas on how to engage people with our stories and collections in new and exciting ways. Following the success of our Youth Panel, the initiative was introduced in 2025, allowing young people in the local area to share their views on how Exeter Cathedral engages with young people.
Summer Activities
2023 & 2024
Our free summer holiday activities aim to engage families with their local heritage.
In 2023, we hosted The ever Faithful City, a fascinating play telling the true story of King Henry VII’s stay at the Treasurer’s House, alongside a series of craft activities including the chance to make your own shield.
The following year, our original play Read’s Revelation told the story of Devon craftsman, Herbert Read, whose dream and subsequent warnings to the Dean of Exeter, led to a remarkable effort to save the Cathedral’s famous medieval Bishop’s Throne canopy from imminent destruction. We also ran a series of fun craft activities including painting illuminated letters, rag rug making, making handmade paper, woodcarving demonstrations and medieval tile making.
BioBlitz
July 2023
The Exeter Cathedral BioBlitz was a fun activity with an important mission. The aim was to identify as many species around the Cathedral grounds and green spaces as possible over two days; creating the chance to explore and hopefully discover something unknown and unusual. Working with Devon Wildlife Trust and the landscape architect, we will be using our findings to increase the biodiversity around us, contributing to the increase and preservation of our wildlife.
We hosted a range of activities including: snail racing with Wild Ideas, a VR Experience with Exeter Science Centre, origami, a moth trap reveal with Simon Bates, wildflower and lichen walks with Devon Wildlife Trust and a honey beehive with Exeter Beekeepers.
Riddler in Residence
2023 – 2025
Exeter Cathedral’s Riddler in Residence leads creative workshops inspired by the Cathedral, its green spaces, and its Library and Archives collections, including the famous 10th century Exeter Book.
The Riddler in Residence project works with a range of local community groups, including families, young people and formal education settings, with the aim of inspiring them to creatively connect with their heritage.
Team Gaia
January-February 2023
Timed to coincide with our hosting of artist Luke Jerram’s Gaia installation, Team Gaia was a collaboration between Exeter Cathedral and immersive theatre company Four of Swords.
The project brought together young people from across our local community, including Exeter’s ISCA Academy School, Exeter Hindu Temple Trust, the local Ukrainian community and the Pelican Project learning disabled artists and creatives.
Together the groups contributed to a series of workshops and explored a range of themes inspired by Gaia, including scientific, religious and mythological perspectives on the origins of planets. They also reflected on our own planet’s environment and discussed ways to protect life on Earth for the future.
Ideas and perspectives expressed in the workshops were then developed into a narrative for an immersive theatre performance, Beyond Gaia, which was co-created between the community groups and Four of Swords, and performed in front of a sell-out audience at Exeter Cathedral.
Combining dazzling visuals, performance, sound and music, the show told the story of an alien council of inhabitants from lost and dead worlds, assembled on Earth to celebrate the planet’s beauty, share their own cautionary tales, and inspire us all to safeguard the future of our world.
