THE recent marathon Bible reading in Winchester Cathedral raised £9,000 towards its appeal.

Around 220 people took part including nearly 70 boys from Pilgrims' School.

The youngest reader was Solomon Lawrence, aged just six, the younger son of the cathedral curate Katie.

A group of 15 Cathedral Friends took on the last three hours. Many read on two or three separate occasions and a few had to recite their texts as they were moving from the Cathedral to the Wessex Learning Centre or back, accompanied by others making sure they kept dry and didn’t fall down stairs.

Canon Roly Riem, Acting Dean, said: "This was a fabulous community effort and a fantastic total. People were so generous with their time and gifts and many said how they really enjoyed what they discovered from the Bible, even if Hebrew names proved a challenge! I am so grateful to every reader and sponsor for their help."