Ride and Stride

Each year, on the second Saturday in September, a national sponsored ride is held by all the county historic churches trusts.

The ride is inter-denominational and members of churches are invited to seek sponsors who will volunteer to pay an agreed sum of money either for the day or for the number of churches the participant visits.

The event takes place between 10 am and 6pm. The money raised is shared equally between our Trust and the place of worship nominated by the participant. An alternative is for a participant to be sponsored to be in his or her church for a time, doing whatever jobs need doing in the church, such as polishing or dusting!

As important as participating in the Ride are the many volunteers who give up the day to man the churches and chapels and sign in the participants as they arrive although we cannot guarantee how many visitors there will be!

Anyone can join in the fun of Ride Day. One can have a run into the countryside and there is no organised “route” which participants should follow. They can go where they wish! Also it is not necessary to obtain sponsorship only from your own church members. Many people, who are not churchgoers, are very willing to act as sponsors so you are not always asking the same people for money. In addition, certain employers have a policy of supporting members of their workforce who undertake charity fund raising, thus opening up a new field of obtaining finance.