ST ALBANS: An army of young volunteers are spending part of their summer holidays preserving and protecting St Albans Abbey.

Cathedral Camps, which are run by UK volunteering charity CSV, will see young people getting involved in all aspects of cathedral life from clearing overgrown shrubs in the dark corners of the grounds to painstakingly cleaning marble statues with cotton buds.

The ‘campers’, all aged between 16 and 25, will be staying at the cathedral school in St Albans from Wednesday, July 20, to July 27. It is the ideal opportunity for any young person who has a personal or career interest in heritage conservation, is doing a Duke of Edinburgh award or just likes having fun and getting to know people from around the world.

Leader of the pack, Julia Thompson, said: “While I have led a number of camps, I have never been to St Albans before, so I’m really excited about seeing behind the scenes of a cathedral that is ‘new’ to me. Each year it amazes me that a group of young people who have never met before can become such a good working team in such a short space of time. I’m really looking forward to meeting this year’s campers.”

Rebecca Wilkinson, CSV’s project manager for Cathedral Camps, said: “Every year our army of young volunteers demonstrate a positive impact to protect our faith buildings. Their spirit and passion plays an important part to preserve our architecture from disrepair.”

Saturday afternoon and all day on Sunday of the camp will be free time for relaxation and activities are arranged in the evenings. Campers make a contribution of �155 towards accommodation, food, tools, equipment, etc..

For further information visit www.cathedralcamps.org.uk or call 0207 6431395.