Alan outside St Mary's

Alan Leafe from St Mary’s Catholic church in Loughborough raised a magnificent £500 cycling round villages in Leicestershire to help fund church repairs on Ride+Stride Saturday, 8 September 2012.

Alan cycled 89.93 miles, visited 51 churches and his computer showed that he had used 5540 calories. His 2012 cycle ride beat his 2011 efforts when he visited just 43 churches and travelled 76 miles.

Starting at 10am, Alan’s route took him through Leicestershire villages from Ratby to Rothley, Ratcliffe on the Wreake, Barkby, Twyford and eventually to Melton Mowbray. Winding my way back along the Wreake Valley he returned to a warm welcome at St Mary's Catholic Church in Loughborough for 6.10pm

Alan said: “Towards the end of my ride I was really struggling, but what kept me going was thinking about the huge support and generosity of my sponsors, friends, family and work colleagues and especially the overwhelming support of the parishioners of St Mary's. In total around £500 of sponsorship was raised!”

Nationally, initial estimates indicate that in 2012 Ride+Stride has raised over £1.3million for churches throughout England.

Ride+Stride was started in 1983 and since then over £29 million has been raised throughout England to support the repair of churches, with thousands of people enjoying a day out whilst raising funds to help preserve their local heritage. Money raised by people talking part is divided between the church sponsoring them and their local county churches trust. The National Churches Trust provides national support and co-ordination for the event.

The National Churches Trust is the leading national independent charity concerned with the protection and welfare of churches, chapels and meeting houses throughout the United Kingdom. For more information see: http://www.nationalchurchestrust.org