St Edmundsbury Cathedral is celebrating the appointment of 10 tour guides who have become accredited with the white badge approved by the Institute of Tourist Guiding (ITG). The guides were formally recognised at a presentation ceremony at the Cathedral on 11 June 2026.

The white badge certifies that guides have the knowledge and skills to lead visitors around the Cathedral with confidence and expertise. The accreditation represents the culmination of an intensive training programme that began following the guides’ successful interview stage in November 2025.

The ITG sets the national standard for tour guides and accreditation is at the levels of white, green and blue badges. In this instance, the award of the white badge certifies the guides as having the knowledge and skills to guide visitors around the Cathedral.

The training programme was the first in the country to link white and green badge status, developed through a partnership between the Cathedral and Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides. The programme was led by Mike Dean, Adrian Tindall and Lynn Whitehead of Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides, working alongside the Cathedral’s librarian, who provided specialist expertise on the Cathedral’s history and heritage.

The guides underwent a demanding training schedule that included lectures, extensive independent research, and a rigorous examination. Candidates were required to answer 100 questions in 60 minutes, and to deliver facts on the spot at locations chosen at random by the examiner.

Adrian Tindall, chair of Bury’s guides, commented: “This training course has been an excellent partnership between the Cathedral and the town’s guides. We congratulate the successful candidates who have worked extremely hard. We know that they will be fine ambassadors for the Cathedral and complement the tourist services that the town offers.”

The new guides are already continuing their studies to attain the green badge, which will enable them to undertake tours of the Abbey ruins and the wider town. The expansion of the guide team comes at a time when Bury St Edmunds’ tourism services are thriving – the town’s current 16 guides handle over 3,500 tour bookings annually and are ranked in the top 10% of global attractions on TripAdvisor. The Cathedral was named a 2025 Travellers Choice Awards winner on Tripadvisor and welcomes over 70,000 visitors annually.

The Very Reverend Joe Hawes, Dean of St Edmundsbury, said, “Working in partnership with the Bury Town Guides has been a wonderful way to offer new opportunities for our volunteers. With the Abbey of St Edmund, Reborn project on the horizon, we will see an increase in tourism in the town and wider county and new ways of offering tours and other ways to experience our heritage are key. We’re thrilled that everyone who took part in this intense training programme passed.”