Ride + Stride Welcome
Will a church be open, might it provide a welcome cold drink or even a loo nearby? (Uploaded 1 Sep)
These questions have been asked by riders and striders every year and now we hope that we can answer most of them. If you open the blue link below and enter either a postcode or the name of a church and then click on the map pin, details of that church will appear. A "church" icon in green means that it will be open. If the icon is grey, we may not have been informed or have been told it will not be open. Green or grey icons for loos and refreshments will answer all three questions. We hope that this new facility will help. It is very recently completed and may well not be fully accurate but we judged it would be a pity to delay any longer or until 2027! Please let us have some feedback, especially if you encounter problems. We will try to fix them next week. Contact [email protected]
Ride + Stride Church finder
Ride + Stride for Dorset churches 2026 will take place on Saturday 12 September. Here is how it will be arranged. (Uploaded 9 July)
For participants: R+S is organised at individual church level by our corps of Church Representatives. If you are keen to take part or learn more about the event, please contact your Church Rep. To get you going, please open the guide to Riders and Striders here There are two ways to raise sponsorship. For those who prefer to give cash or a cheque, pledges can be recorded on our Sponsorship Form here However we encourage you to raise sponsorship through JustGiving using the Trust’s campaign page for 2026. Full details of the process for signing up to JustGiving are here On the day, you will need to record your visit to each church on the Record Form here
To help you plan your route and especially to find churches that are open, are offering refreshments or have a lavatory, we will be publishing that information on this page in August. Thank you in advance for deciding to take part. We encourage you to team up in twos and threes or whole families to share the fun of a great day out in Dorset’s countryside. Good luck with raising sponsorship and enjoy a safe day.
If you are new to R+S and do not know who your CR is, please message our R+S Administrator, Eve Baker, whose address is: [email protected]. She will put you in contact with your nearest CR. We look forward to you joining the several hundred participants on this amazing fund-raising day.
For Church Representatives (formerly Parish Organisers): Thank you for agreeing to be the Church Rep this year. You will shortly receive a printed Pack with full details of how the event will be run. The covering letter is here The key documents are the letter to Riders + Striders, Sponsorship Form, and Just Giving guide which are to be found in the paragraph above. To help you with publicising, the event we have included bright yellow A4 and A5 posters. You may find the draft Press Release here useful to adapt for your Parish News and a Handout here a convenient way to encourage support. The Register of Visitors to Churches here and an Apology Notice here complete the pack. Once the big day is over, CRs are asked to gather in the cash and cheques and then fill in the yellow Financial Management Form here and pink Remittance Form here We are also keen to hear how the day went on the green Feedback Form here We ask that all four forms, together with any cheques, are submitted, in a single remittance, to our Honorary Treasurer by not later than 30 Oct 26. The sooner the sponsorship is sent in, the sooner churches will receive their 50% back!
Thank you
Suggested routes for 2026 - to help you plan from a range of start points. (posted 8 Sep)
Around Blandford
Shillingstone / Child Okeford / Stourpaine / Durweston / Bryanston / Blandford x 4
Blandford St Mary / Charlton Marshall / Spetisbury / Tarrant Crawford / Langton Long
Almer / Winterborne Zelston / Winterborne Tomson / Anderson
Milton Abbas / W. Clenston / W. Stickland / W. Houghton
Ibberton / Turnworth / Woolland
Okeford Fitzpaine / Ibberton / Belchalwell
Bridport
Shipton Gorge / Burton Bradstock / Loders
Charmouth / Wootton Fitzpaine / Lyme Regis / Catherton Leweston
Symondsbury / Whitchurch Canonicorum / Golden Cap (ruin) / Chideock
Netherbury / Beaminster / Stoke Abbott
W. Steepleton / Little Bredy / Portesham / Abbotsbury
Dorchester
Charminster / Puddletown / Stinsford / Dorchester
Milborne St Andrew / Tolpuddle / Affpuddle / Turners Puddle /
Tincleton / Moreton
Hilton / Milton Abbey / St Catherine’s Chapel / Bingham’s Melcombe
Cerne Abbas / Nether Cerne / Godmanstone / Sydling St Nicholas
Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury x 3 / St James’s Village
West Stour / Stour Provost / fFfehead Magdalen
Fontmell Magna / Sutton Waldron / Iwerne Minster / Ashmore
Edmonsham / Cranborne / Pentridge
Sherborne
Folke / Haydon / Sherborne / Lillington / Longburton
Trent / Nether Compton / Sanford Orcas
Hinton St Mary / Marnhull / Sturminster Newton
Iwerne Courtney (Shroton) Child Okeford
Hazelbury Bryan / Pulham / Mappowder
Wareham
Wareham x 3
Corfe Castle / Studland / Swanage x 3
W. Whitechurch / Bere Regis
Steeple / Tyneham
Worth Matravers / St Aldhelm’s Chapel
Weymouth
Bincombe / Elwell / Upwey
Holworth / Chaldon Herring / Winfrith Newburgh
East Lulworth / Lulworth Castle / Wool / Wool RC /Coombe Keynes
West Knighton / Whitcombe / W> Came
Langton Herring / East Fleet / Chickerell / Corton
Wimborne
Wimborne x 3 / Kingston Lacy / St Margaret’s / Colehill
Sturminster Marshall / Shapwick / Tarrant Crawford / T. Keynston / T. Rushton /
T. Rawston
T. Monkton / T. Hinton / T. Gunville / Chettle / Farnham
Knowlton Circles / Wimborne St Giles / Gussage St Andrew / Gussage St Michael / Gussage All Saints
Morshead Trophy presented to All Saints Wyke Regis
The Morshead Trophy was presented at a gathering of parishioners and supporters by Colin Weston, Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset on 22 April. The church hosted a party to celebrate their achievement and heard from Church Representative and keen cyclist Jeff Thomas how his team had gone about increasing their mileage and sponsorship year by year since 2021. For the full report click here
Full results for 2025 R+S can be found in our Annual Report & Review, a link to which is on the About Us page. Paper copies will be distributed by Deanery Area Reps over the next few weeks. St Andrew, Trent put in a brilliant performance which included a large element of match funding. Sadly we did not receive a Remittance form and so were unaware that the actual total raised was over £4000, which would have put them into the frame for the Morshead Trophy. The Trustees made the award on the figures presented and took account of the 5 years of steady progress in fund-raising by Wyke. We hope that St Andrew's will take part again in 2026 and make sure that they include all funds in their Remittance form and send it in by 31 October.
The Trophy was presented by Colin Weston DL (right) to Jeff Thomas (centre) and congratulated by David Grant, Trust Chairman. Images by [email protected]
Ride + Stride 2025 Saturday 13th September (Updated 22 Jan 26)
Ride + Stride for Dorset churches took place as usual on the second Saturday in September. The Just Giving and BACS transfer funds now exceed £100,000, which with Gift Aid which makes 2025 our best year ever.
Canon Andrew Rowland, Vicar of Wimborne and DHCT Trustee, welcomed riders to the Minster.
The customary large team assembled at Sturminster Marshall with high hopes of a least equalling their Morshead-winning sponsorship total in 2024.
Two supporters, with a beautifully turned-out pony and carriage, move away from Winterborne Clenston
Revd Lydia Reese and the Team from the Lulworths prepared to set off from St Christopher, Winfrith
3 striders from over the border with Somerset braved the steep hills around Batcombe (Photgrapher's note - they did have feet but the image compression cut them off!)
Canon Richard Bartlett, Vicar of Wool and Rural Dean of Purbeck, prepared to leave the Rectory with two members of his family. His son soon left his father behind in his quest to visit every church in the Purbeck Deanery.
Members of the congregation at Affpuddle offered welcome drinks and biscuits outside their beautiful church.