An awards party to celebrate the success of the 2021 Ride and Stride was held on Monday at Barnsdale Lodge. The event enjoyed perfect cycling weather; and raised £22,000 for the maintenance and preservation of our lovely Rutland churches.
The awards ceremony was held at Barnsdale Lodge and the awards were presented by the Lord Lieutenant and Vice-President of the Rutland Historic Churches Preservation Trust, Dr Sarah Furness. The Davenport-Handley Cup was awarded jointly to John Williams of Pilton who targeted all 64 churches to match his age (he narrowly missed his target) and Mike and Niles Beadman who raised a magnificent amount from their native village of Brooke and in the conventional time period cycled to 48 churches. The Barnsdale Lodge Walking prize was awarded to John Williams of Morcott whose efforts over many years have been an icon of the event.
The Chairman of the RHCPT, Peter Lawson, also thanked Bob Beswick of Oakham Congregational Church who has supported Ride + Stride for 34 years; and Sylvia Bland of Greetham who over a succession of years has cycled to all 64 churches in our county, an idea that he commended as an example to others who might copy the idea in future years.
Mr Lawson thanked the 400 participants, who cycled or walked, or manned Rutland’s churches. In particular, he praised the 300 volunteers who welcomed active participants to their churches and enabled all 64 churches to be open on the day. This makes Rutland exceptional amongst all English counties and is critical to our success: Rutland raises more money per head of population than any other county.
Since the inception of the two-yearly event, Ride + Stride has raised over £250,000, of which about half is typically given directly to the churches nominated by participants and half is used by the Trust for its work in response to requests for assistance. With additional very generous support from bequests, the Trust is now able to give grants totalling about £70,000 each year and in the past five years grants have been made to 35 local churches and places of worship. Mr Lawson thanked all the Trust’s supporters for their magnificent efforts.
The next Ride + Stride will be on Saturday 9th September 2023.
