Charlbury Children’s Bike Rally an Outstanding Success
Report on Charlbury’s Ride and Stride, 12 September 2020
Like everything else the sponsored Ride and Stride round Oxfordshire’s churches was much affected by the pandemic in 2020. Beforehand there were doubts that it could happen at all. Nobody could be allowed into the churches. So our faithful welcomers could not be there to offer biscuits and encouragement to flagging StRiders, and there was less incentive for Charlbury’s StRiders to take part because of social distancing and nearly all churches having just a sign-in sheet by the door.
But it did all happen, the weather was wonderful, and county-wide it raised almost as much money as 2019 for Oxfordshire’s churches and the Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust.
And in Charlbury our children’s rally was an outstanding success. It was again raising money for Charlbury School and OHCT and was again organised jointly by them and the Windrush Bike Project. This time, however, it climaxed on the school playing field with a mass picnic, a bike gymkhana and an opportunity to try out e-bikes sponsored by the Town Council’s Environment Working Group. The children had to set off one at a time rather than in a mass start, but one surprised visitor that morning reported that the whole town was humming, and the happy scene on the school playing field carried on well into the afternoon.
This was all reflected in very respectable financial results: St Mary's raised £360, All Saints Shorthampton £260, St Teresa's (RC) £40, the Methodists £65, the Quakers £50 – and the Charlbury School Association a magnificent £1184 much of it through online sponsorship.
This year we hope that there will be fewer restrictions and that we can repeat the events on the school playing field. We also hope to have an extended route as a challenge for older children with mountain bikes. This will take them out to Shorthampton Church and back via Walcot.
The Ride and Stride and the Children’s Rally is on Saturday 11 September. Put it in your diaries now!Basil Eastwood · Fri 26 Feb 2021, 11:50 · Link