Jim Perryman, former chaplain of Lyon, is undertaking a charity bike ride across France. He shares below his reasons for doing this and how we can follow his progress. 

Who am I?

I’ve been involved with the Diocese in Europe since the early 1990s, when I first served on a ‘Campsite Chaplaincy’ in France with ICS.  That led me to a real sense of calling there and in 1994, I was appointed Chaplain in Lyon where my family and I served for 6 years.  Twelve years on the ICS Council followed and then I was appointed as the part-time Short-Term Mission Manager, looking after the seasonal ministry in France, Ibiza, Italy, Switzerland and Corfu, and responsible for the churches in Wengen and Zermatt.  I retired from ICS at the end of 2025, having retired from my parish ministry in Warwickshire earlier that year.

Why am I doing this?

You can find the full story on my website, but in 2022 I had a short sabbatical which included a week at Taizé followed by a week cycling from there, mainly along the ‘La Loire à Vélo’ route, to Tours.  A few weeks after getting home, I started to have a major medical issue (not connected to the bike ride!) and, just before Christmas 2022, I had surgery which left me with a permanent stoma. My recovery was amazingly good, with excellent medical support, and now, with a bit more time, I want to do this ride as an act of thanksgiving, both to God and to those who help others who recoveries are less easy than mine.  So I am taking my bike back across to Tours, and continuing to ride along the Loire to Angers and then heading north back to the ferry port.  Three Christian charities (ICS, Friends of the Holy Land, and Agapé France) that I am closely linked with are helping to promote the ride, and so they will each receive 5% of the funds raised, but the main recipient is the stoma support charity Colostomy UK.

How can you help?

Please consider helping me raise funds by sponsoring me and please pray for me as I ride, as I am not a regular cyclist and I will be riding solo without ‘backup’.

See more, donate, and keep up to date with my progress, at www.youtree.uk/toursdefrance