|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
RIDE+STRIDEWelcome to RIDE+Stride, the foremost annual event to raise funds for repairs to Leicester and Leicestershire's historic church and chapel buildings RIDE+STRIDE always takes place on the second Saturday in September So next year: Saturday, 11th September, 2010 20th Anniversay of RIDE+STRIDE in Leicestershire Over £650,000 raised since 1990. How it works Participants plan their own routes (which may cross county borders), with the assistance of each county’s printed list of churches and chapels that are open on the day. Riders and striders ask their relations, friends and colleagues to sponsor them - so much for each church or chapel they visit between 10am and 6pm on the day, or a lump sum. This is recorded on a special sponsor form, and participants can take part for as long or short a time, within the day, as is convenient for them. The Ride started in Suffolk in 1982 and now around 30 counties take part every year. Together we have jointly raised around £7million - last year we jointly raised over £1.5million. The first Ride in Leicester and Leicestershire was held in 1990 and has been going strong ever since. The total amount raised in Leicester/shire now exceeds £650,000 - half of this sum has been donated directly to churches and chapels nominated by participants while the other half has been given out by the Trust to churches and chapels eligible for, and deemed by the trustees derserving of, a repairs grant..
The day arrives and participants can ‘clock in’ at their first church from 10am onwards. They will have their sponsor forms initialled with the name of the church/chapel and the time, whilst the rider signs a register at the church/chapel. A quick look around, perhaps, and then off to the next church or chapel. As time goes by, riders and striders become hotter and the churches’ offer of a cooling drink will be appreciated. By 6pm the last keen participants will have signed the register, leaving many churches with over 50 names. Some churches and chapels, particularly those in hilly areas or far from other churches, receive many fewer visitors, sometimes in single figures, but the event works best when AS MANY CHURCHES AND CHAPELS AS POSSIBLE ARE OPEN on the day. Many congregations see the day as a church open day - and one when useful jobs can be done inside the church or in the churchyard - with short breaks to sign sponsorship forms!
After the Ride The participants send or give their sponsorship forms, now showing how many churches or chapels they have visited, to their sponsors who reward them according to the undertaking made. The riders, striders and recorders give the forms and the money raised to their local organiser, who sends it to Mrs Anne Bloor, the Hon Treasurer for the Leicester/shire Ride+Stride. Anne adds everything up, banks the money, and sends each church or chapel its half share. A rider who has 20 sponsors at 10p per church, and visits 20 churches, will have raised £40. Twenty such riders would raise £800 which would mean £400 for the Trust and £400 for their local church or chapel. An experienced rider can visit 30 churches or more and, with good sponsorship, can raise a considerable sum. In Leicestershire, some churches raise over £1,000, and indeed, there are some individuals who raise over £1,000 each.
|
Downloads & Links:
"NEW national website for Ride+Stride"
ROSEMARY CONLEY CBE DL , Leicestershire-based exercise and fitness expert, is backing RIDE+STRIDE. She says: |
|||
© 2008, LeicesterShire Historic Churches Trust - Registered Charity Number 233476 |
||||
County Historic Churches Trusts throughout England organise within their own counties a Sponsored Ride+Stride (for pedal cyclists, walkers and drivers of disability scooters). The basic principle is that 50% of sponsorship money goes to the church or chapel chosen by the participant, with the other 50% going to the respective County Trust. You can be sponsored as a cyclist, as a walker or as a recorder (someone who welcomes visitors to your church and signs sponsorship forms).
On the day