100 Miles on horseback challenge
100 mile horse riding challenge: COMPLETE!
Two Challenges completed by grit, determination and generosity.
Pauline Teall on Sheila and Jan Chilvers on Madi set out to ride 100 miles and raise £1000 – both of which they’ve achieved.
The 100 miles was completed on Saturday 2nd of September when the two rider’s arrived back at St Mary’s to be welcomed by a party of church members and local people. Disabled Rider Pauline when asked said “It was harder than I expected, especially as I injured my leg part way through and had to do the last part in some pain” Jan said “I really enjoyed our challenge combining my life long passion of 60yrs and raising money for St. Marys Church, although I did find riding all the extra miles quite tiring but well worth it. “
Both Pauline and Jan are very grateful to those who have given generously to support them and beaming that they’d managed to achieve their fund raising goal having so far raised £1400. This was achieved by riding the distance in stages and keeping supporters informed of how far they’d got and where they were going on social media. Money was donated in cash and via Just Giving
Philip the vicar said “I’m so grateful to Pauline and Jan, Sheila and Madi and those who’ve supported them and kept people informed on social media and so on. Such efforts and generosity play such an important part in helping save the church for the future and when people come forward like Jan and Pauline with their own idea and event it is such an encouragement and help. This project is costly and though plans are in place to achieve it they can only progress in phases as we raise the money for them. It will be a long process which is to be achieved steadily through a combination of fund raising events, local people’s ideas and actions and applying to grant aiding bodies who provide significant funds toward enabling such places to be used to benefit the lives of people and their community.’ Every idea and event which is held from the smallest to the biggest are all important in raising the final total. If anyone else has ideas or ways they can help support this effort or some time to volunteer to help, please do contact me ”.
Philip went on to explain. “St Mary’s is one of the area’s most beautiful and historic buildings. It has over 10 000 people from Hook, Goole and more widely come through the door each year, but it’s future is in a perilous state. The Church is on the Heritage at Risk Register because of much needed roof, stonework, underpinning and window repairs. It is also significantly underused because the facilities are inflexible and not up to modern standards and we are therefore struggling to afford to keep it going and face the potential of closure within a generation. We have plans to address this by making all the repairs and using the building much more for educational, heritage, community and cultural events as well as continuing to use it for beautiful weddings, supportive funerals, celebratory baptisms, special school assemblies and other church services, plans which aim to keep it open and well used by people from Hook, Goole and more widely for the next 100 years. £175 000 is needed to complete phase 1 of the works, which may be achieved in sub stages of £60 000, £40 000 and £75 000.
We will then need to raise considerably more in phase 2 – to complete the project. We’re aiming to achieve by 2025 the 800th Anniversary of the building of the church”.
Click here for further details about St Mary’s Church,Hook 800 Project
If you would like to discuss your own fund raising ideas or to offer your volunteering skills – there are a number of areas where we would greatly benefit from people who can help us – please contact us.
Photo’s from left to right:
-Jan and Pauline under one of the finest Copper Beach Trees in the whole of the East Riding coming up the path towards St Mary’s, Church Hook at the completion of their challenge.
-A small welcoming party thank the horse riders
– Pauline Teall and Sheila, in the porch of the church with flowers which were presented by Church Warden Peter Jessop to thank them for their effort.
– Philip, vicar of St Mary’s thanks Madi and Sheila, Jan and Pauline for such a great achievement.
He is wearing piece of ‘vicar’s clothing ‘ called a Cassock which he believes is
a stylised version of riding coats vicars used to wear in times gone by.
Philip, the vicar of Hook, said, “I’m so grateful to Pauline and Jan for thinking of this idea by which they, in their own way, can help toward enabling this amazing 800 year old church, (Hook and Goole’s oldest building by almost 400 years) remain open and useful to community and church. I am particularly delighted that their horse ride also raises awareness of the importance of animals in the history of the village and church. For 700 years of the existence of this building animals and particularly horses would have been vital to the economic, social and community life of our village, with much of the more difficult tasks and long distance travel only achieved as the result of horses and horsemanship. If it weren’t for horses I doubt this beautiful building would ever have been built in the 13th Century, nor would it have been able to function as significant and powerful resource for the life of the people and village over those first 700 years of it’s life.
Without horses William de Houk (Knight and Lord of the Manor of Hook) in whose courtyard the church stood, would not have been able to be High Sheriff or Yorkshire in the early 14th Century and Yorkshire would not have been able to have been run from here during that period. There are many other such examples of the importance of horses to church and community life. Hopefully, other people will also be inspired by Pauline and Jan to come up with their own unique and relevant ideas for how we can raise the large amount of money needed to achieve the aims of the St Mary’s Hook 800+ project.”
St Mary’s is on the Heritage at Risk Register and needs major repairs to the roof, walls, foundations and windows in order to keep the building structurally sound. It also requires some internal works to make it suited to 21st Century use which will enable it to be kept open as a church and community resource. If these things don’t happen there is a real risk of the church closing within this generation.
Hook 800+ project is a collaboration between the church and the wider community, which is aiming to create space for community to flourish, protect that space for the next 100 years and support activities that build hope. It includes the major repairs to the building, the installation of a multi-access toilet, refreshment facilities and other works.
Click to find out more about sponsoring this challenge, or to set up your own!