In 2021, Gloucestershire Historic Churches Trust (GHCT) is celebrating its 40th anniversary and the over £2m in grants it has given so far for renovations and improvements to local churches. Grants from the Trust have helped fund many vital projects in Gloucestershire and North Bristol over the last 40 years. These include roof repairs, restoring historic wall paintings, and improving accessibility.
To mark the anniversary, the Trust is aiming to raise an extra £1,000 for each of its 40 years making a total of £40,000 on top of their usual fundraising efforts. This will enable the Trust to support many more projects over the coming years.
In addition, the Trust is publishing Simon Jenkins’ Favourite Churches of Gloucestershire and Bristol. This is a local edition of his England’s Thousand Best Churches which highlights some of the most interesting historic churches in our area. The book is being sent free to Trust supporters and copies are also available through the GHCT website.
Colin Senior, Chair of the Trust, has high hopes for 2021: “We are looking forward to this being the best year yet for fundraising, so that we can continue to ensure that our local churches, chapels and meeting houses are around for future generations to enjoy. The 40th appeal, combined with the brilliant special edition of Simon Jenkin’s book, are providing new interest in our vital work.”
On Saturday 11 September 2021, GHCT will be holding their annual Ride + Stride event (assuming all goes to plan with the roadmap out of lockdown).
Ride + Stride is a nationwide event supported by the National Churches Trust. Cyclists, walkers, and horse riders raise money by being sponsored to visit churches and chapels on any route of their choice. The money raised by Ride+Stride will then be shared between GHCT and local churches of all Christian denominations in Gloucestershire and North Bristol.
The charity is hoping to welcome back lots of participants who could not take part last year due to Covid-19 restrictions. In 2020, an amazing figure of £44,000 was raised by participants despite the pandemic and unusual circumstances.
The Ride + Stride event is a brilliant way to get out to see our beautiful local churches and support the charity. Further information about getting involved in the 2021 Ride + Stride event can be found here.
Useful links
- To find out more about the work of the Trust you can visit its website.
- To get involved in the Ride + Stride event visit www.ghct.org.uk/ride-and-stride.