The Swindon Foodbank team of cyclists have all arrived safely at the end of the Coast to Coast route after 4 days of hard cycling. On their final day they had a two mile uphill trek from their B&B in Tavistock to get back to the cycle track, and if that wasn't enough there was an extremely heavy downpour so that they were soaked through before they even began the day's cycling. The day continued with sporadic downpours, thunderstorms and some difficult climbs followed by steep descents, however on arrival they found they were still drier than on Tuesday! 

They arrived in Plymouth at 6.30pm where they dipped their front wheels in the sea to complete the task. 

The team are all in good spirits, though their bikes have taken a bashing, and despite being fairly exhausted are taking a day to relax in Plymouth, going on a cruise of the harbour and enjoying a Devon Cream Tea. 

Well done team! 

We'd love to say a big thank you to the young lady working in the Hatherleigh Tea Rooms, who on Tuesday allowed 7 cyclists to drip all over her floor and eat their own food in her Tea Rooms.  She also allowed Sandra to recharge her phone as it was just about to die!! Definately our hero that day. 

Day three (Wednesday) was beautiful weather, we hardly had any rain at all.  Although there was a lot of ups and downs on the route and everyone is very tired, they enjoyed the day and found some beautiful scenery to enjoy and photograph.  The cyclists and support team were able to meet up for lunch at a little village called Lydford, where we ate in the beer garden of a pub and enjoyed some fresh tea from their bar. 

Unfortunately Wednesday's B&B was about 2 miles off their route, so they once again had to do some extra mileage with extra climbs and descents, both to the B&B and back the next day to return to the route.  But we were very grateful to the B&B, where we were made very welcome. We were able to have our evening meal there, which was a bonus as we didn't have to walk anywhere to find a suitable venue.  This was just as well as it was a bit out in the sticks and we wouldn't have found somewhere else very easily.  Once again we marvel at God's provision and how He knows just how to provide for us in ways we wouldn't have thought of. 

Although we are starting day four in misty rain the forecast is reasonable and we hope to have a fairly dry day. The first half of the day will be very up and down again but they finish the route on a fairly level track.  We are officially up to 80 mile marker on the route, with just 22miles left to go, but obviously we have done some extra miles with detours, planned and unplanned!!

Day two was very wet - but everyone achieved the mileage (31 miles) with no wrong turns this time! We arrived at the night's B&B all soaked through, but we were made very welcome and given a drying cupboard which helped to dry out some of the wet clothes.  We have been very thankful for such a helpful couple!  

After another good meal and a good night's sleep, we start a new day with the prospects of sunshine and showers.  We've had a rain shower whilst getting the bikes ready, but now have sunshine, so we're hoping it stays sunny and dry for longer.  Everyone is in good spirits but they are tired and achy. 

Thank you for your prayers, keep up the good work, we know God is watching over us.

Our team of intrepid cyclists, with their support team, set off on Sunday morning, driving down to the start of the course. We all arrived safely and managed the shuffling of cars between Ilfracombe and Plymouth without any problems.  We had a great Chineses Meal together and settled down to rest and prepare for the first day. 

The first cycling day was beautiful without rain until the last half hour or so, but the cyclists faced several challenges with steep hills and a little confusion over route - leading to them inadvertently doing an extra five miles or so!  By the time they reached the first stopping point everyone was really tired and ready for a rest.  Unfortunately the B & B we had for the first night only offered one bathroom and one toilet, so refreshing after the ride was also a challenge. 

We had no idea where to eat so we set out prayerfully up the hill to the town centre and very quickly found a great mexican restaurant that did us proud with a good selection of meals and lots of choice on gluten free meals as well.  The service was brilliant and the food great so God really blessed us. 

Day Two we face our greatest mileage and the forecast is for rain all day, but we have a great God who is with us all the way. Some of the team are finding it harder than they anticipated and Richard's knees are very painful already.  So we set out trusting in God to keep us all safe and give us the ability to get to the end of the route for today.

Our team of cyclists set off on the Coast to Coast challenge 2010 on Sunday 18th July.

Richard Belsham, Barbara Webb, Maurice Webb, Ben Morkot, Bob Hayward & Julie Hayward are cycling 103 miles from Ilfracombe to Plymouth over four days, leaving from the Trinity Centre, Stonehill Green, Westlea at 9am. We'd love a good crowd of people to join us at the Trinity Centre to send them on their way with style, so come join us!

There's sure to be some news and photos from the team as they go, so keep your eye out on the website for updates. 

We pray for good weather, safe travel and of course - lots of sponsorship raised! There's still time to get some more sponsorship of course - download the sponsorship form and help us reach our target of £2,000.

SCCP are continuing their discussions regarding St. Johns as a possible location for Re-store The board has approved the proposed scope of the project. St. Johns will enable us to have a variety of activities including furniture restoration, furniture shop, cafe and meeting place, online sales of books and higher value items and a community craft centre.

The next steps will include the completion of a business plan, planning application and fundraising! A project this involved is going to need a lot of community support to get off the ground. If you are interested in getting involved in this exciting new project for Swindon, please contact Tracey Kirk via Swindon Foodbank.

As the date for the challenge gets closer, we are pleased that all the accommodation has now been booked for the seven brave cyclists and their support team. Our most urgent need however is for someone, an individual or perhaps a company, to transport the bikes to Ilfracombe on Sunday 18th September. Can you help? Or could you suggest us to your company? The bikes would also need collecting from Plymouth on Saturday 25th July.

Not everyone can help in such a practical way. But everyone can spread the word of Coast to Coast challenge and raise sponsorship. We have sponsorship forms available to download - please help us reach our target of £2,000! 

When you're asking people for sponsorship, perhaps you could share with them Sally's story from this month's Email Update, as an example of the work Swindon Foodbank does?

However much you can do, we appreciate it. To give encouragement to our cyclists, let us know if you're supporting C2C 2010!

Download the sponsorship form

The Swindon Foodbank van has received a fresh look with new signage. The Van has become a visible sign of the work of Foodbank as it moves around Swindon collecting and delivering the food which Swindon residents donate. You can read the incredible God-story of how we got the van on our website. The van continues to be an invaluable resource for our work.

Read the Foodbank Van story

The plans for this year’s Coast to Coast challenge are continuing to come together. While we are still finalising all the riders tackling the course in order to raise funds for Swindon Foodbank, arrangements for the event are progressing.

We’ve booked the B&Bs for everyone, and our support team has grown. However we still need help to transport people and bikes to Ilfracombe on Sunday 18th July, and back home from Plymouth on Friday 23rd or Saturday 24th July. If you’re able to help we’d love to hear from you!

The planned itinerary is as follows:

• Sun 18th July - travel to Ilfracombe
• Mon 19th July - cycle from Ilfracombe to Bideford (26 miles)
• Tues 20th July - cycle from Bideford to Okehampton (30 miles)
• Wed 21st July - cycle from Okehampton to Tavistock (23 miles)
• Thurs 22nd July - cycle from Tavistock to Plymouth (24 miles)

That’s a total of 103 miles!

Cyclists will then return to Swindon on the Friday - unless they decide to recover with a weekend in Plymouth - and who could blame them?

Most of all - we need your help in promoting the event. Sponsorship forms are now available to download, could you help to raise sponsorship for our brave cyclists? We’re aiming to raise £2,000 this year, but we can only do that with your help. As well as raising vital funds, the more people who know about it helps to raise our profile. As Swindon Foodbank becomes better known throughout Swindon we are hoping for an increased support from the local community.

Download C2C 2010 Sponsorship Form

If you’d like to promote the challenge in your office, church or social group, contact the Swindon Foodbank office for promotional material.

Last  year's cyclists

Swindon Christian Community Projects (SCCP) have agreed to start a new project within Swindon which will be linked with Swindon Foodbank. Like Foodbank, the project will be focussed on showing God’s love to Swindon residents with practical help.

SCCP was set up in October 2005, by founding members Gateway Church Swindon, The Trussell Trust, Parish if New Town, St Johns Haydon Wick, Discovery Church Swindon. The group’s objective was to run projects which help people in need in Swindon and the surrounding area, thus demonstrating in practical ways the love of Jesus for everyone. Their first project was the set up of Swindon Foodbank, with support from The Trussell Trust in Salisbury.

SCCP Directors continue to be responsible for overseeing the running of Swindon Foodbank. However, now that Swindon Foodbank is established and running smoothly, the Directors have been looking at plans for a new Swindon based project, called Re-store.

Re-store is based around opening a charity shop. But, while there are plenty of charity shops in Swindon, Re-store has a far larger vision than selling donated items for profit. The shop will be a ‘new type of charity shop’, aiming to be a vehicle not only for raising money which can be used to fund other projects, but also offer meaningful work to supported volunteers, and provide a setting for sharing the abundant love of Jesus.

The shop would become an additional distribution centre for Swindon Foodbank. As part of the project, the shop would include a cafe, kept to standards of excellence, to provide a safe and uplifting environment for clients of Foodbank to be supported and nurtured. Supporters of Swindon Foodbank will also be able to donate food here.

Re-store will be set up once again with support from The Trussell Trust, the Salisbury based charity which developed the national Foodbank initiative. The Directors are currently in the planning phase, and have identified a possible premises. From here promotion of the project will begin in earnest to get support from Swindon churches. It is hoped that the project could be up an running by the end of 2010. 

Anyone wishing to be involved with the project can get in touch through the Swindon Foodbank Contact Form. 

Alternately, get in touch if you’d like to arrange a presentation on the Re-store project for your church.