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John Peet, former General Secretary of the charity L'Arche UK, cycled into in Shrivenham on Tuesday 1 July as one of the stops on a 1,500-mile bike ride around all the charity's UK Communities for people with learning disabilities that will raise £30,000.

John set out from Silsden in West Yorkshire, where L'Arche has its national office, with a big send off from ITV national weather presenter Jo Blythe and other L'Arche supporters.

He has already visited the L'Arche Communities in Edinburgh, Inverness and the new Project in Glasgow, after crossing to the west coast of Scotland to make a personal pilgrimage to Iona.

After Glasgow he swung south, through Kendal, to the visit the Communities in Preston and Liverpool. After visiting the Liverpool Community he travelled on to Manchester, home to another Project, and then to the Community in Brecon.

Now he is on his way to visit the Communities in Bognor Regis, Lambeth and Ipswich to finish in Kent, where the first UK L'Arche Community opened in 1974.

The money John raises will go to L'Arche in Zimbabwe, where funds are desperately needed just to keep the Community going, and to the Projects in Glasgow and Manchester that are on their way to becoming L'Arche Communities. Even before he set off the Big Bike Ride had raised more than £3,000 in donations, and many people have offered free accommodation along the route.

Donations can be made on-line at www.justgiving.com/larchebigbikeride. During the Ride John is reporting on his progress in a daily diary on the L'Arche website: www.larche.org.uk

10:34am Sunday 6th July 2008

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