St Mary's, Thornbury

There are other ways to be involved – opening your church, sponsored church cleaning, flower arranging marathon etcc

Registered Charity No: 1120266

Ride & Stride

THE LIST OF ALL THE CHURCHES AND CHAPELS THAT TOOK PART IN 2009 IS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE LOCAL ORGANISERS SECTION OF THE FORMS DOWNLOAD PAGE. 

If, as a local organiser, you have offered to spread the word to other churches you may find the document 'Website piece for new churches' useful.  This is available as a download from the local organiser section of the Forms page.

2009 results can be seen on the News page.  A report and photos from the event will be posted here shortly.

Each year, on the second Saturday in September, a national sponsored event is held by all the county historic churches trusts.  This year's event will take place on Saturday 11 September.

Gloucestershire has a network of local organisers around the county who are responsible for publicising the event locally, handing out sponsorship forms, arranging for people to man the churches, putting up posters and then, after the event, collecting in the money and sending in to the Trust's treasurer.  We are very grateful to our organisers for their time and support each year. 

To find out who your (nearest) local organiser is, please email rideandstride@ghct.org.uk

You can, however, join in even if there is no organiser in your area.  Sponorship forms will be available as downloads on the forms page of this website, as will remittance forms, posters and lists of participating churches. 

The Ride and Stride 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 and Stride are the many volunteers who give up the day to man the churches and chapels and sign in the participants as they arrive. A welcoming face offering refreshments and local knowledge makes a huge difference to stalwart riders and striders.

Anyone can join in the fun of the day. There is no organised route which participants should follow. You are welcome to make up your own route to suit you and your companions. 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.

Now that we have signed up to use justgiving, you can range the world to seek sponsorship!

If you are using justgiving please mention your chosen church's name in the My Story box.  This will help us make sure the 50% of your sponsorship money reaches your church.  Please also make a note of the total you raise this way.

If you have a church/parish or village website why not add some details about the Ride and Stride?  This might reach people who wouldn't normally know about it. 

You can find information on Ride & Stride here.