Why were these intrepid people getting in the saddle?
Was it for:
• The camaraderie of being involved in a collective ambition, not only with their friends but also, in many cases, with their mums and dads?
• The fun of freewheeling past the fields of sheep, sunflowers and straw bales?
• The sense of challenging themselves as they spent many hours in the saddle?
Or was it more to do with:
• Hearing their screams of joy echo down the valleys as they negotiated the steep, stone-strewn tracks
Perhaps it was a need to:
• Give their folks plenty of mud –caked clothes after navigating their way through the quagmire that some of those tracks conspired to turn into?
Would all those cyclists involved please stand up and turn to face the rest of the room.
Each of these people standing in front of you will have their own reasons for volunteering for this national church charity challenge – those reasons being a mixture of achieving: fun, fundraising and friendship
Thank you to every one of you for your determination and sense of adventure and I know you will also wish me to thank:
•
• The mums and dads that kept you safe on the road
• The marshalls that made crossing the main road even safer: Mrs Gregory and Mr Janes
• The refreshment ladies: Mrs Sinfield, Mrs Smith and Mrs Major
• The hostesses and the hosts with the most at the sun-drenched tea party afterwards:
• From Godman House - Mrs Fielding (aided by her uber-helpers Mimi & Issy), Mrs Kinson and Miss Berry
• From the Old Rec - Mr & Mrs Raby (ably conducted by their daughter Hannah)
• As well as: Mr & Mrs Holden.
• Finally, the support vehicle drivers, at the wheel for over 4 hours, who patched you up, digitally captured you for posterity, pointed you in the right direction or came to your rescue when the hills proved too much for the integrity of your wheels: Mrs Brealy and Mrs Haas.
Hopefully the collective efforts of over 70 pupils, parents and staff from both the Senior and Junior School will help to raise hundreds of pounds for the heritage of the churches that we are blessed with in this haven at the epicentre of the Cotswolds. Thank you so very, very much for putting the fun into fundraising!
Mr Alex Brealy