Ride and Stride, September 2010
Left to right: Boby Stefanov, Sarah Gadzik and Andrew Clark outside St Peter's Church, Stokeham.
It is more than seven years ago when we took over the running of the Sponsored Ride and Stride event, organised on behalf of the Nottinghamshire Historic Churches Trust, and it has become an essential part of our working schedule and is one of the main highlights of our calendar each year. 2010 will, however, remain in our memories as the most successful to date.
Every year we set ourselves a target to beat the total amount collected in the previous year and 2010 was exceptional in that respect. The amount raised was staggering and the total came to the sum of £23,765.20, of which £21,354.86 was received through sponsorship and £2,410.34 will be received from Gift Aid. We are all very proud of the 2010 achievement, the best ever total in Nottinghamshire, but hope to emulate it in 2011 with the help of all our friends in the county. So let's not rest on our laurels, but roll up our sleeves and raise the bar even higher in 2011.
The 2010 event involved 251 churches and chapels from the county and efforts will be made to try and get more places of worship signed for the 2011 event, with the hope that this will raise the profile even more.
We are very grateful indeed to every church organiser, rider and strider who contributed with even a small amount to the magnificent total. However, special mention must be made of the great amounts received from our regular star churches at Cotgrave, Caunton, Walkeringham, Attenborough, Southwell Minster, Rainworth Methodist, and Sneinton. Special mention must also be made of St. Peter's Church, Widmerpool who amazed us when we received a cheque for nearly £1,500 raised on the church's behalf. This is the highest amount we have ever received from a single church. Well done to everyone involved with St. Peter's, we are very grateful for the hard work that they have put in.
We also received a number of entries for the Best Story Competition and experienced journalist Tony Turner who works in the office at Keyworth judged them. The winner of the competition was Jean Brown who represented St Peter's Church, Tollerton. She received a cheque for £100 which went towards her church. Second place was awarded to Julie Holmes from St Mary's Church, Edwinstowe, and third place was awarded to Caroline Briggs of St Peter's Church, Stokeham.
Now that all of the work has been successfully carried out on the 2010 event, including the work involved to recover Gift Aid, preparations are ongoing to get us in good shape for the
2011 one. Entry forms and invitation letters were sent in March to around 550 churches and chapels in the county and we have received many positive replies.
There will be the usual three competitions again - a cycle will be awarded to the most active church or chapel who fields the strongest team of riders and walkers, a £50 cheque will be presented to the participant who visits the most places of worship which are normally less visited and are shortlisted by us as organisers, and finally a cheque for £100 will be given to the person who writes the most exciting story about the event.
In addition the 2011 Ride and Stride will see a new logo on its publications, specifically designed at the request of the National Ride and Stride Standing Committee and to be used by each regional organiser. And finally, we have teamed up with JustGiving, the UK's leading online fundraising website, so money can be donated and raised online. The event supporters can now make single and monthly donations to the charity through the direct donation area at www.justgiving.com/nhctrideandstride/donate or fundraisers can make fundraising pages for it by looking up the event on the www.justgiving.com website by searching for NHCT Ride and Stride.
Once again a reminder - make a note in your diaries - Saturday, 10th September 2011, between 10am and 6pm - this is the date when the Ride and Stride will take place and we are hoping to see a great turnout as usual. And as we normally say every year - looking forward to seeing you in your saddles and in your walking shoes! Do not forget it is a healthy way to spend a day!
Mike Elliott
Boby Stefanov
Ride and Stride Organisers