The Lord Lieutenant’s Certificate
The Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk, The Lady Dannatt MBE has kindly agreed to sign a certificate bearing the name of the individual who has raised the most amount of money for the Bike Ride. The certificate is awarded to a different person each year. 2022 saw the inaugural presentation of the Lord Lieutenant’s Certificate in recognition of outstanding contribution to the event. In another first, two certificates were awarded. Firstly, to Mary Heather (pictured left) who in her 94th year raised £15,000, with half of the proceeds going to Burnham Thorpe, All Saints, where she plays the organ. Mary will be doing the bike ride again this year, but by car with her nephew. Unfortunately, she was unable to attend the presentation, but her certificate was delivered to her by Charles Inglis, Chairman of the Bike Ride Committee.
The second recipient was Anthony Meynell, who for his 70th birthday set himself the task of visiting 70 churches on the day. Well, he managed that and two more for good measure, raising more than £10,000 in the process. He told us of the amount of reconnaissance and planning, which sounded like a military operation, involved in such a challenge and how tricky it can be to find some of our rural churches. He expressed his thanks to a friend who started the bike ride at 6.15am with him, to provide the photographic evidence of visiting churches before they officially opened and to his daughter and her boyfriend who assisted with the afternoon session. He also expressed his special thanks to his wife Debbie for her support. After hearing of nonagenarian Mary’s feat, he said he may be tempted to do an 80 for 80 challenge! Anthony’s certificate was presented to him by The Very Revd Dr Andrew Braddock, Dean of Norwich on 31st August at Prior’s Hall, Norwich Cathedral.
The Lord Lieutenant's Certificate