Yesterday was the annual Ride and Stride. This is where people do a sponsored cycle, walk or ride round the many Oxfordshire Churches listed by the Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust for the event.  The sponsorship money is split between the Trust and the person’s church.

The Covid-19 restrictions meant the event looked a little different this year. Not as many churches had people at the door welcoming.

In Abingdon, three churches still had welcomers (St Helen’s, Abingdon Baptist, and St Michael’s).

The other churches left a form to be signed to show who had visited. In Abingdon,  this included: Trinity, Peachcroft Christian Centre, All Saints, and St Nicolas

Here are two Ride and Striders signing in at St Nicholas on the Market Place.

I took part and cycled around all the Abingdon churches and churches in some nearby villages: Shippon, Sunningwell, Bayworth, Boars Hill, Kennington, Radley, Culham, Sutton, Milton, Steventon, Drayton.

Both the Drayton Churches were open, and allowed you to look round.

St Peter’s Church looked very smart from outside

and from inside. They had the usual sanitiser and sign in sheet.

Drayton Baptist Church also had a sign in sheet.

I cycle by this chapel going to work and have wondered what it looks like inside.  So thank you to them for opening the door and letting me inside. It is a lovely building.

Abingdon’s Breakaway Club is a social club for the elderly and those who live alone. In normal times, it meets regularly for quizzes, bingo and tea and cakes, and has an old minibus which is used for excursions. The minibus is reliable and safe, but its insurance and maintenance costs are high, so they are raising money to help to keep it on the road. If you would like to support this Club, run entirely by volunteers, then you can donate at Just Giving.

The Breakaway Club was Abingdon Mayor’s Charity of the Year five years ago, and has about 40 members.

Abingdon Market Place was looking busier this morning with more tables out and people drinking coffee. There was also a busker singing ‘Eight Days a Week’. But no signs of a return to Market Place events yet.

Against Breast Cancer (an Abingdon based charity) say they are unable to host their annual Splash of Pink Event in Abingdon Town centre this year. However, they have announced that next weekend (18th & 19th July), Splash of Pink will be virtual! The weekend is designed for every member of the family, with the Sunday filled with entertainment for children. From live music, fitness sessions, cooking, arts & crafts, Disney sing-along’s and much more. You can tune in via the @againstbc Facebook Page and help fund vital research into secondary spread breast cancer.

The Acacia UK charity shop in Bath Street reopened today. The shop has been closed after fire damage in September 2017 and subsequent delays in its restoration. The reopening was further delayed because of the Coronavirus lockdown.

This is the third Charity Shop to open in Abingdon since the lockdown. A perspex screen has been installed to shield volunteers serving customers. A notice on the doors asks for a maximum of eight customers at any one time.

There are three Acacia shops, the other two are in Faringdon and Grove. They raise money to support children of differing mental and physical abilities in Kenya and Uganda to enjoy a high quality education. The charity has worked with children in Africa since 1995 – the original name being Action for People in Conflict.