CLERGY and worshippers will get on their bikes to raise cash for their churches during September.

The Rev Paul Smith outside St Alban's Church, West Leigh, on his tricycle

One vicar and his clergy wife will ride a tandem around the Isle of Wight, while another who has cerebral palsy will pedal around his parish. That’s all on top of the annual historic churches’ cycle ride, which sees hundreds of worshippers visiting churches around the Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth on September 8.

The Rev Paul Smith, vicar of St Alban’s Church in West Leigh, walks with the aid of a stick and needs to use steps to clamber aboard his tricycle. But he’s determined to cycle around his parish on September 23, to raise cash to help repair and decorate his church. Worshippers will wave him off after sharing their morning service and lunch together.

“I wanted to see if I could do something personally to put the parish on the map and be seen in the community,” he said. “I thought I couldn’t ride a bike because of my disability, but I can ride a tricycle.

“I hadn’t actually cycled since I was a teenager, but I’ve been practising and getting used to it. My feet will be strapped to the pedals as I can’t put my feet in certain positions. And I’ll do laps of 0.5 miles so that I can stop if it gets too much.” 

The Rev David Power, vicar of St Cuthbert’s Church, Copnor, and his wife, the Rev Jeanette Power, a chaplain for Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, will clamber aboard a tandem to help raise cash for the building project at St Cuthbert’s. They’ll cycle the 62-mile official route around the Isle of Wight on September 7 to help raise the final £400,000 towards the £4.2m project.

The ambitious project, which involved splitting the church building into a GPs’ surgery, community rooms and a worship area, reaches a fresh milestone this autumn with the opening of the St Cuthbert’s Centre – four floors of rooms and halls for church and community use, including a children’s centre.

“For years we’ve looked forward to actually opening our doors to welcome the local community to our new facilities, and at last this part of our vision will shortly be realised,” said David. “It’s an amazing achievement for a local Portsmouth church, and I pay tribute to the team who have worked so hard on the project, and the congregation who have put up with a lot of inconvenience.”

The Baffins GP Surgery was created within the building two years ago, and is also a partner in the centre’s work. The final phase of the project will involve the creation of the 200-seater worship area in the west end of the building. Worshippers have held services in a local school since 2003 while building work has taken place.

And the annual historic churches’ sponsored cycle ride has been re-named ‘Ride and Stride’ to reflect the fact that many worshippers walk rather than cycle. They are sponsored for each church they visit during the day, and many churches take the opportunity to offer refreshments to their visitors.

It happens from 10am-6pm on September 8, and is organised by the Hampshire and the Islands Historic Churches Trust. Half the cash raised goes to a parish church chosen by each participant and half to the trust, which then helps to fund repairs within the diocese. The trust now has re-designed its website on www.hampshirehistoricchurches.org.uk, which details some of the grants made to churches in the  diocese.

To sponsor the Rev Paul Smith, contact him on 023-9245 1751 or paul315smith(at)btinternet.com. To sponsor David and Jeannette Power, ring 023-9282 7071 or see www.justgiving.com/iowtandemride. To take part in Ride and Stride, contact Gillian Coles on 023-9232 4310 or gillian.d.coles(at)btinternet.com