A £10million campaign aimed at conserving one of the North-East’s most iconic buildings has been officially launched.

Durham Cathedral is hoping to raise the cash by 2020 in a bid to make sure it has enough money to keep the 900-year-old building in good repair.

It started Foundation 2020 last year, when the Heritage Lottery Fund announced it was giving £1m to kickstart the campaign, and had an official launch on Friday as part of events to celebrate St Cuthbert’s Day.

The Very Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Dean of Durham, says, “The core vision of the cathedral is to be a place from which to share our faith and heritage globally.

Conserving our cathedral buildings, towering monuments to Christ’s message in the North East, is central to the cathedral’s long term strategy.

“We are enormously thankful to individuals, businesses and the Heritage Lottery Fund for their enthusiastic support of the cathedral and its community.

“The cathedral is much loved locally and further abroad, so we hope that this new appeal will inspire a new understanding of the importance of conserving historic buildings.”

The cathedral, which is part of the Unesco World Heritage Site, has a backlog of maintenance work which needs to be done to keep it in good condition.

The new fund marks a step change in the way the cathedral operates and will mean more is spent on day-to-day maintenance instead of one-off major projects.

The cathedral decided it needed to take a new approach to fundraising following its last inspection in 2013, when it emerged around £40million worth of work needed to be done.

Maya Polenz, head of property at Durham Cathedral, said: “There’s been a lack of investment over the centuries and a lot of things needed doing at once. We need a way of tackling that for the future.”

Brian Logan, from Baldwins Accountants, which is 2020 Club member, said: “Baldwins is delighted to be one of the first involved in such a worthwhile cause. The cathedral is at the heart of our community, and it is up to this and future generations to ensure it continues to thrive.”