Ride and Stride 2020 is still taking place on the 12th September and your help is needed now more than ever.
Ride & Stride is a sponsored event for cyclists, joggers, walkers and horse riders. Participants challenge themselves to visit as many churches as they can by their chosen mode of transport and at the same time raise money to support the work of the Trust.
During the pandemic, places of worship have demonstrated their enormous value to the nation in a variety of ways; whether your building has been a centre of support through food banks or outreach, or just been sorely missed by people as a place of community, remembrance and celebration, churches have not been forgotten.
Like all charities, however, church communities have lost the crucial fundraising season which will have long term impacts. This is why Ride and Stride will still take place this year on the 12th September. It is one of the few major fundraising events that can still take place as long as social distancing and other measures can be followed. Money raised will help Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust to continue supporting buildings across the county with essential repairs and improvements. We know that the future is going to be financially difficult, competition for grants is already increasing and building works have become less of a priority for many major funders. As usual, Ride and Stride is an opportunity to raise money not only for the Trust but for your own church, as we return 50% of the money to individual churches where asked to do so.
Whilst we cannot currently be sure what the situation will be on the 12th September, Historic Churches Trusts across the country are preparing to make the most of whatever opportunities are available. Ideally it would be good for as many churches as possible to be open and positively welcoming on the day, but this might not be possible.
If you can arrange for your church to be open without breaching social distancing and other requirements, please do so, but please follow guidance, particularly with regards to facilities for handwashing and use of toilets. Current advice is not to serve refreshments.
If it is not practicable to leave your church open, you might consider placing displays of some kind to welcome people to your churchyard. Visitors may wish to take photographs of the outside of the churches they visit, or to make some other suitable record.
If you are organising or encouraging people to take part on your church’s behalf, we suggest that they might like to visit churches in your local area rather than further afield, as it is still desirable to reduce travel in order not to risk contracting or spreading infection. As a result, Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust have decided not to produce a list of churches in the county this year.
There are, however, two excellent national websites that can be used to find out more information about churches; you might even want to use these to do a sponsored virtual Ride and Stride!
- A Church Near You - https://www.achurchnearyou.com/
- Explore Churches - https://www.explorechurches.org/
Unfortunately, due to the restrictions this year, Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust will be unable to distribute physical copies of all the paperwork. It can, however, all be downloaded on their website. If you have any problems downloading the material please contact David Stazicker (secretary@camhct.uk).
These are difficult times, but the hope is that people will be able to support this event in whatever ways possible. It is an opportunity to celebrate the contribution our amazing historic churches make to society and to get out and explore the local area.
For further information and advice, please visit the Trust’ website https://camhct.uk/rideandstride/