Andi Hofbauer, vicar of St Aidan's Church in Leeds, and Sarah Rutty, headteacher of Bankside Primary School, in the parish of St Aidan's, are setting off on a mini-pilgrimage - walking in the footsteps of the original St Aidan - to raise money for essential parish work to maintain the fabric and ministry of the church.
On August 21st they are walking 20 miles from the burial place of St Aidan, in Bamburgh, to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, from where he set off, 1300 years ago, on his mission to feed the homeless, look after the poor and spread the message of Christian love and compassion.
St Aidan's Church is proud of continuing this important social ministry today. The money that Andi and Sarah will raise will help provide food parcels and cooked meals for its Foodshare work on Sundays.
It will help fund the weekly PAFRAS drop-in sessions for people seeking asylum and refuge in inner city Leeds.
It will pay for some of the resources needed for our ESOL classes, teaching English to newly arrived Leeds citizens and refugees.
"We need to protect this important work we do as we are facing a very unexpected bill of £20,000 to rebuild the east end apse wall.
"This wall, which keeps the roof over our heads, also supports one of the most lovely and precious mosaics designed by Frank Brangwyn for the church in 1916," Andi said.
"It will be a lovely walk and we are doing it in a day along St Oswald's Way and hopefully then following the poles in the sand to Lindisfarne," said Andi, who completed the Camino Walk in Spain as a 21-year-old from Germany, pictured right.
Details of the walk and how to make donations can be found at the Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/st-aidan