Rutland Ride & Stride is a sponsored event for cyclists, joggers, walkers and horse riders, held in Rutland once every two years to raise money for the preservation of the county's beautiful and ancient church buildings.Participants challenge themselves to visit as many churches as they can by their chosen mode of transport and raise money to support the work of the Rutland Historic Churches Preservation Trust. Participants nominate a church to receive half of the amount they raise. This year, my friend Beverley Hancock and I are walking to raise money for Thistleton church on behalf of The Friends of Thistleton Church and hope to visit as many beautiful Rutland churches as we can on foot in 8 hours :).

Thistleton is a small village in the north of Rutland with just 47 residences and a population of approximately 110. More than a third of the population is aged over 60 years and more than a quarter are children. There are no public facilities at all – no shop, pub or village hall. The only public place where villagers can meet is the church so the building doubles up as a meeting venue.

Like many rural churches, Thistleton has a very small congregation attending its regular Sunday services and the cost of maintaining the fabric of the church presents an enormous challenge. The FOTC was formed in March 2016 in response to a village consultation exercise where over 90% of responders said they wanted the church to remain open and 100% said they would like to see greater use of the church as a community facility.

At present the church has no central heating, no water connection, and therefore no toilet or kitchen facilities. To improve the building as a community space the FOTC has ambitious plans to install these to provide a warm, pleasant and comfortable space for people to meet. We believe that the word “church” does not just refer to a building, it’s about community.