|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Friends of Kent Churches Sponsored
Ride and Walk
To see the list of churches open in Kent click Here. Ride and Walk Participating Churches To help you plan your route, we have created a set of local maps (Google Maps) which have been annotated with the churches taking part in the event. There are several areas as follows: The Ride and Walk is open to Everyone In fact, the more people from outside church congregations that take part the more successful we shall be in arousing interest in, and support for, our heritage of church buildings. Last year more than £116,000 was raised in Kent, with over 750 churches and chapels involved. The ride started in Suffolk in 1982, and now 31 counties are taking part.Altogether over £17 million has been raised nationally. Details The Friends of Kent Churches Sponsored Ride and Walk takes place on the second Saturday in September each year. 50% of sponsorship money raised goes to the church or chapel chosen by the participant, with the other 50% going to the Friends, who use it to help the most needy churches and chapels in use in the County. Participants plan their own routes, with the assistance of a printed list of churches and chapels open on the day. Riders and walkers ask their relations, friends and colleagues to sponsor them - so much per church or chapel visited between 10am and 6pm on the day. This is recorded on a special sponsor form, and participants can take part for as long or short a time, within the day, as is convenient for them. Since this is a national scheme, you can visit churches that are open in any county you like. People manning the churches can be sponsored too. T shirts are available for purchase to show your support and raise awareness. Cyclists can now purchase Bicycle Flags including pole and bracket for the ride as a fun way to show your support and raise awareness. Click here for an order form. Before the Day The Friends of Kent Churches distribute sponsorship forms and collect details of the churches and chapels open. The parish organisers recruit riders and arrange to keep the churches staffed (and open) to sign riders in. Riders sign up sponsors (and please get them to tick for gift aid if they are tax payers: it increases their donations by 28% with no extra trouble to them), oil their wheels and dig out their helmets and bright clothes. Alternatively the Friends of Kent have teamed up with the people at Justgiving.com to allow our members to create online sponsorship forms. Simply create your sponsorship page and then Email the address of your page to everyone you know, here and abroad, and start collecting your sponsorship. Create your Sponsorship Form here: http://www.justgiving.com/kentchurches/raisemoney On the Day The day arrives and participants can 'clock in' at their first church from 10am onwards. They will have their sponsor forms initialled with the name of the church and the time. A quick look around perhaps, and then off to the next church or chapel. As time goes by, riders and walkers become hotter and many churches offer a cooling drink. By 6pm the last keen participants will have signed the register, leaving many churches with over 50 names. After the Ride The riders and walkers present their sponsorship forms, now showing how many churches and chapels they have visited, to their sponsors, who reward them according to the undertaking made. The riders and walkers then give the forms and the money raised to their local organiser, who sends them to the Friends of Kent Churches Treasurer. He returns the half due to the church or chapel. The forms also act as an audit trail to enable the Treasurer to recover tax from the Inland Revenue under the Gift Aid scheme, which increases the amounts raised by 28%. SAFETY ON THE ROADS IS PARAMOUNT and although organisers cannot be responsible for the riders, they do all they can to encourage safe cycling by issuing safety leaflets and by REMINDING RIDERS NOT TO SACRIFICE SAFETY FOR SPEED. For further information please contact (N.B. It is a condition of participation that, save to the extent required by law, the Friends of Kent Churches accept no liability in respect of death or injury sustained by any participant. Or damage to property. If a participant wishes to have insurance he/she must make their own arrangements). |
