A MAN has cycled 900 miles to boost fundraising efforts at his 13th-century church by more than £5,000.
St John the Baptist Church, at Okewood Hill, near Ockley, received an offer of £84,000 in funding from English Heritage to cover essential works on the Grade II* Listed building in February.
However, the grant is reliant on the church providing its own contribution of £58,000 to the repairs by mid-December.
In a bid to raise funds, regular worshipper Jason Strange set out to cycle from John o' Groats to Lands End on July 6, and managed to complete the journey in just over a week.
"It occurred to me that we needed a challenge to fire imaginations worthy of the giving," said the 43-year-old. "This gets the ball rolling and is part of a number of key events planned throughout the year."
The father of four passed Inverness, Fort William, Carlisle, Birmingham, Bristol and Dartmoor before powering on to the finishing line in Cornwall.
He added: "It was arduous. Scotland is not to be underestimated, it's a massive country. I got three punctures on the first day – one was literally as I set off, it was unbelievable.
"That trip is certainly not for the faint-hearted."
