An “out of the blue” donation of £25,000 has blown away Norfolk Bike Ride organiser Charlie Inglis.
“This is the biggest single donation we’ve received by a country mile. It is fantastic news. The Norfolk Churches Trust is incredibly grateful for this gift which will help to care for our precious church heritage,” he said.
This surprise sponsorship will be shared with All Saints Church, Burnham Thorpe, said award-winning north Norfolk farmer and trust trustee Mr Inglis.
The anonymous donation has been made to thank Mary Heather, who has been a long-term fund-raiser for the trust and for the church, he added.
The annual Bike Ride, which took place in glorious weather last month, has already boosted the trust’s funds to more than £100,000. By mid-October, this total has overhauled last year’s total of £94,000, he said.
A number of other generous gifts have also been received, said Mr Inglis, who said that on-line donations have already exceeded last year’s total. “We encouraged on-line and also dozens of fund-raisers have used Just Giving,” he added. Almost three times more Just Giving pages have been running than last year.
The annual Bike Ride has now raised close to £3m for churches of all denominations in the past 34 years. It provides grants and help to maintain churches and chapels.
Membership of the charity is also vital. An annual subscription costs £30pa or £45pa for joint – see the website for details.
