Our cyclists Chris, Aleks, Geoff and Chikere will be setting out from St Mary’s Church Lewisham crossing the channel by ferry to Dunkirk on Friday 5th July heading to Brugge on the Saturday and arriving at St Peter’s Gent in Belgium before their Sunday mass on 7th July.

We're raising money for the church bells which hang in the medieval tower of St Mary the Virgin Church, Lewisham are in need of restoration. It is important that we preserve the bells as part of our history for future generations to enjoy whether ringing them or hearing them ring out. The bells were originally cast at Whitechapel in 1776 and the last full restoration of the bells themselves were in 1894.

The cost of the bell restoration is estimated at £73,546 (excl VAT) and as part of the fundraising efforts we are doing a cycle ride from St Mary the Virgin Church Lewisham to St Peter's Abbey Church in Gent, Belgium where there is a long historic link. The Estates of Lewisham and Greenwich were donated to St Peter's Abbey in Gent by Elfrida (daughter of King Alfred the Great) on her marriage to Baldwin II of Flanders.

Link and QR to St Mary's Riders for more ride details and to donate

https://www.justgiving.com/page/st-marys-riders-1718297057513?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Fst-marys-riders-1718297057513&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share

The Route