Ride & Stride for the Lincolnshire Churches Trust

Was held on Saturday 12th September 2020.

The day was bright and fair and just the right temperature for cycling.  There was quite a breeze from the West – which gave us a back wind when travelling East; not so good when travelling in a westerly direction!

A pleasing number of participants from around the deanery, including our ‘team’ of six from All Saints (Pam and Barry Lancaster; Matthew and Neil Simons and me and my husband Phil), spent the day cycling around the fifteen participating churches in East Elloe.  (Phil and I actually started at Cowbit St Mary, in West Elloe.)  Because of the current pandemic safeguarding measures we knew that many of the churches would not be open, but Ride and Stride posters greeted us and at Fleet Baptist Church Pastor Ross Dean was there personally to welcome us, having spent the entire day there in order to greet each visitor.  He gets my vote for dedication!

Barry and Phil had to take some time out (Barry had a wedding to play for, and Phil had to be a chauffeur for his dad), but the rest of us completed a full journey.  For myself, the hardest thing was travelling homeward mainly West.  Having averaged a speed of 16 mph over the first three hours, I could only manage half that by late afternoon!

Most of the sponsor money has now been collected, but there’s still time to donate if you haven’t already done so.   Just write “CYCLE RIDE” on an envelope, along with your first and last names, the number/name of your house, street and postcode, and the words “Gift Aid” if you are a UK taxpayer; enclose your donation and push it right through the slot in the safe.  A telephone number would also enable us to thank you.  N.B. Your details are needed purely so that gift aid can be claimed by the Trust – they will not be retained beyond that and you will not be contacted for marketing purposes.  You can also pay by bank transfer – just get in touch with me for details.

Many thanks to all our lovely sponsors.  We have been thrilled with your generosity, especially in this strangest of years.  So far the total raised at All Saints is a little over £1300.  The final total will be announced soon.

Kim Biggs
Deanery Organiser
01406 426631