Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Thirty years ago it was the courageous Chris Barker in his epic 'Abbey Run' from St Mary's Abbey Church, Whitby to St Mary's Church Mirfield via ancient abbeys of North and West Yorkshire, who raised £2000 for repairs to the church following vandalism. I was one of several scrawny Venture Scouts who ran short stages with Chris to keep him awake and on track. Now it is my turn to repeat the feat.

This year we need to smash that total. St Mary's Church in Mirfield has been hit by lead thieves at a time when we are about to launch our plan for the transformation of our team parish. We need funds more than ever and so, having a dodgy back and knees, I rashly promised to organise the Abbey Ride. Chris Barker was up for the challenge again and went out and bought himself a bike so that we could start training.

On Saturday 9 July 2011 Chris, Craig Johnson (another former Venture Scout from the Abbey Run) and me will set off at dawn to cycle the same route as Chris originally took. The route has steep hills, over 1800 metres (5500 feet) of climbing, gravelly descents and covers 130 gruelling miles that we hope to complete before 6pm for our arrival, via Sunnybank Road, at St Mary's Mirfield.

Please help us to raise as much as we can to help us to transform our churches and increase community usage of our buildings either here or on Chris's page at www.justgiving.com/Chris-Barker2.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Stephen