A long ride home

All being well, by the time this magazine is published two Church of Scotland members from Ballachulish, in the Highlands, will have cycled from Land’s End to John o’Groats to raise money for Christian Aid.

Bill Strachan, aged 74, and Jon Ure, 75, set off from Land’s End on Tuesday, May 28 and hoped to cover 30-40 miles a day, reaching their goal in four or five weeks.

Bill said: “We cycle nearly every day, for leisure, and we’ve raised money for Christian Aid before – now we’re combining the two. We’re both members of our local church, South Lochaber Church, and cycle there on Sundays. We’ve done lots of fundraising so we thought we’d choose Christian Aid as our charity this year.

“We think it’ll be between 800 and 1,000 miles although I have actually walked it before, in 2005, and I did 1,300 miles.

“Along the way we’re going to be stopping at as many cathedrals as we can, starting with Truro and then Wells. We’re hoping to meet a few supporters and perhaps grab a cup of tea!”

Head of Christian Aid Scotland Val Brown said: “What a brilliant fundraising challenge – we’re so grateful that Bill and John have chosen to fundraise for Christian Aid. We wish them all the best on their epic journey.”