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College aids Christchurch

The Dean of Christ Church has offered support to its counterpart in New Zealand by launching an appeal for financial aid after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the city last Tuesday.
Christ Church Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, was founded in the mid-19th Century by members of Christ Church, Oxford who named it after their old college.
The College Dean, Reverend Christopher Lewis, launched the funding campaign, with last weekend’s service collections going towards the appeal.
He said, “We are praying in the cathedral.  There is a book of condolence there which people are signing.  A collection is being made to send out to Christchurch: currently standing at about £6,000.”
He added that the link between the college and city is still very much alive and important today.
“The connection is also a contemporary one, through choir exchanges between the cathedrals, and a graduate student scholarship for someone from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch.”
The Cathedral itself was severely damaged in the quake, with much of the building collapsed in on itself and the spire toppled and lying in pieces.
However, amongst the ruins a morsel of hope was discovered. Under the fallen statue of the leader of the first settlers, John Robert Godley, were found two time-capsules containing artefacts described as “musty, but intact”.
The statue of Godley, an alumnus of Christ Church College, stood in the main square in Christchurch.
Isabella Beechey, a third year languages student at Christ Church, said, “Christ Church is very proud of its ties with the city and it is great to see the college helping to raise funds for the relief appeal.
“Hopefully it will go some way towards helping the inhabitants to rebuild their lives.”
On Tuesday the official death toll stood at 159, with police expecting this to rise further once all the bodies have been recovered from collapsed buildings and identified.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said this week that the rebuilding of Christchurch would be “a 15-year job”.

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