Archbishop of Canterbury greets Ride+Stride cyclists
Published: Tuesday, September 16, 2014
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has greeted cyclists and walkers taking part in the ‘Ride+Stride’ open churches day on Saturday, 13 September 2014.
The event aims to raise £1.5 million to help safeguard the future of England’s historic churches, chapels and meeting houses.
With the Church of England’s 12,500 listed churches alone facing an estimated repair backlog of £60 million*, the money raised by Ride+Stride is a vital lifeline to many places of worship unable to afford the high cost of looking after buildings that are often several hundreds of years old. *(Figure quoted by Sir Tony Baldry MP, The Second Church Estates Commissioner, House of Commons, 12 June 2014).
Ride+Stride in 2014
Ride+Stride is a sponsored bike ride or walk discovering England’s heritage of churches, chapels and meeting houses. From Northumbria to Yorkshire and Cumbria to Kent, Riders+Striders raise money for their favourite church or chapel and also for the local church trust in the county in which they take part.
Ride+Stride started in Suffolk in 1981 and was soon taken up in other English counties. It has now raised over £29 million to help maintain and restore churches and chapels.
Over 8,000 places of worship opened specially to welcome visitors on Ride+Stride Saturday, 13 September, 2014, a day which also saw many other historic buildings open for Heritage Open Days.
In London Ride+Stride takes place on 20 September, to co-incide with Open House London.
Many churches showcased their First World War centenary heritage on Ride+Stride Saturday. In Hampshire and the Islands, a number of churches had special trails to follow, highlighting memorials and history.
Ride+Stride is organised by local church trusts, charities set up to care for historic churches and chapels, with the support of The National Churches Trust.