by Alan Watkins

awatkins@thekmgroup.co.uk

The Dean of Rochester is getting on his bike to raise money to keep the cathedral’s music alive.

The Very Rev Adrian Newman will take to the road in July to become one of the first English cathedral deans to cycle the length of the UK, from Lands End to John O’Groats.

The Dean set himself the target of raising £10,000 for The Rochester Cathedral Trust. The trust has recently set up a music endowment fund and the bike ride will add much-needed resources to it.

The Dean has asked for 100 sponsors to each pay a penny a mile, costing them just £10 in total. Within days of setting himself the challenge, donations began flooding in and he has already trebled that target but continues to seek support.

The epic 1,000-mile bike ride is part of the Dean’s summer sabbatical where he will carry out research around Britain. To add a bit of light relief he decided to raise some money as he went.

He said: “I was ordained 25 years ago and I was very influenced at that time by the keynote Faith in the City report. I want to see what has happened since then.”

The report, published in 1985, set out the way the Church of England could play a major role in tackling inner city problems.

The Dean – a member of the board of Medway Renaissance – will visit 15 dioceses to look at the work they are doing and consider what lessons might be learned.

“I don’t want to prejudge what I do with the information when I finish,” he said. “That will depend on what I find first of all.”