News Archive - March 2008

Church cyclists raise £100,000 in single day

Cyclists and walkers across the county raised more than £100,000 for historic churches and chapels in a single day.

Sums released by the Beds and Herts Historic Churches Trust showed its annual Bike 'n Hike event in September drew record support.

Organiser Patrick Lepper, said: "We are delighted to have raised such an amazing amount of money.

"We set ourselves the £100,000 target two years ago, and to think that we have not only reached but exceeded that amount is terrific."

He added: "We have been organising this event since 1991 and each year it gets bigger."

The final amount raised was £102,000.

Each year cyclists and walkers are sponsored to plan routes and visit churches around the county. Local parishes taking part keep half the money raised, and the other half goes to the Trust which uses the money to help maintain and restore the county's religious buildings.

One church which regularly takes part is All Saints, in Church End, Kempston.

The parish had 20 people join in, more than half aged between five and 14 years old.

Alison Wardley, one of the church's Sunday school leaders, said: "In today's world, when the church doesn't always rank too highly on people's priorities, it is amazing that we can still get so many people, and younger members of the church, involved.

"We've been taking part in the event for nearly ten years, and it really is a great event.

"It's fantastic to get members of the community together and it's an opportunity to visit some amazing buildings that we wouldn't normally see."

Since the event started, the Beds and Herts Historic Churches Trust has raised more than £1 million, and been able to help hundreds of churches with repair bills.

The group is now planning this year's Bike 'n Hike which will be held on September 13.

Anyone interested in joining in should contact Terry Warburton on 01442 866414.

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