Ride+Stride

The Devenson family based near Deal, Kent participated in the event and visited a staggering 25 churches in their area. Cycling on two tandems and one bicycle, the family chose a circular course, starting at Sholden, St. Leonards into Deal, and then into Sandwich, and onto Worth, Northbourne, Great Mongeham. Their nominated church, to receive half of their raised funds was the Tower Captain, Ripple, Ringwould.

Fiona Devenson said: “A great day was had by all of us and we managed to raise £75 and look forward to taking part next year”.

Father Alan Green with his recumbent bicycle inside St John on Bethnal Green

Father Alan Green of St John on Bethnal Green in east London took part in this year’s London Ride and Stride on 23 July. He completed a ride of no less than 60 miles visiting 23 churches from the East End via the City to Harrow Weald and Roxbourne on his recumbent bicycle and raised over £800.

Commenting on the day Alan said; “This was a wonderful day out – a reason to cycle to parts of the Diocese I have never seen. I had thought I would just collect signatures to prove I’d been to all these places but, of course, I spent time in some wonderful buildings and got into conversation with a whole range of fascinating people – whilst raising money for my church. I hope this year will encourage many more churches to participate in 2012 – the more churches that are open, the more people who will create interesting cycling and walking routes between them.”

Canon Henry Pearson plus bicycle outside St Andrew’s Church, Trent, Nr. Sherborne, Dorset

Canon Henry Pearson, Rector of Queen Thorne Dorset and Rural Dean of Sherborne raised £3,025 in Dorset for Ride + Stride in 2010.
He was presented with the Morshead Trophy, the annual prize awarded to the ‘rider’ or ‘strider’ who raises the most money in Dorset.
Canon Pearson cycled from St Paul’s Church, Sherborne to St Nicholas Nether Compton, cycling via eight other churches.

In Dorset, over 200 parishes and local communities took part in last September’s event raising a total of £55,798. The Annual ‘Ride & Stride’ remains pivotal to the Dorset Historic Churches Trust’s work, and has raised £740,104 since 1991.

Six year old Joe Appleford visited 44 churches during Ride + Stride to help preserve Oxfordshire’s famed spires.

Read about his fantastic adventure here.

We always like to hear from our walkers and cyclists about why they get involved with Ride + Stride and how their day went. We’d love to feature your Ride + Stride stories, photographs and feedback in our News page, so please contact us at: info@nationalchurchestrust.org

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