250 miles for 250 Years: Friends' School Lisburn Announces 250-Mile Kendal Cycle, Supported by Decor Creator, to Commemorate the School’s 250th Anniversary.

Quakers often talk about living adventurously, and from 28 - 30 August 2024, a group of five intrepid cyclists from Friends’ will undertake a pilgrimage on two wheels of 250 miles, a mile for each year the school has been in existence.

Principal Stephen Moore will be joined by Ralph Mercer, Mark Gillespie, Rob Lewis and James Sinton, all parents of pupils currently at school. Indeed, James and Mark have long-standing connections with school as they are also Old Scholars of Friends’.

The team will embark on a journey which will pay homage to the school’s first headmaster, John Gough and which will embrace the school’s Quaker heritage and the values and principles that have shaped it for two and a half centuries. As well as marking 250 years of Friends’ School, 2024 is the 400th anniversary of the birth of George Fox, the founder of the Quaker movement. Before they set off, the team will take time to visit some of the well-known sites associated with Fox, including Brigflatts Meeting House and the site known as Fox’s pulpit at Firbank Fell.

On day one of the cycle, the group will leave from Kendal, the town of John Gough’s birth. They will depart from Kendal Meeting House, where the Gough family were members, and will head south before crossing the Irish Sea. Day two of the cycle will begin in Dublin where John Gough spent 24 years as master of the Friends’ School, before heading north on a route which would have been used by Quaker travellers in the 18th century, stopping off at Bessbrook and ending in Moyallon. Day three will take in the Meeting Houses at Lurgan and Hillsborough before returning to Lisburn, with teachers and pupils joining the team along the way on a final procession back to school.

Principal Stephen Moore says: “We would be delighted if the school community could get behind us by sponsoring this journey to help us meet our fundraising target of £250,000 for our legacy projects. Both our Legacy Trail and Outdoor Performance Space are designed to enhance our use of the fantastic grounds we enjoy and help promote the physical and mental wellbeing of our pupils.”

We are delighted to have the support of Decor Creator, an innovative company founded by former Head Girl by Charlotte Lewis (née Thompson) and husband Rob, who himself will be taking part in the challenge. This Lewis Family now have four children at the Friends’ and Decor Creator is the world’s first micro learning app for Interior Design where everyone can have fun developing their design skills and stay ahead of the latest interior trends by completing 3D Home Makeover Challenges. The Decor Creator App is free to download on iOS and Android.

Follow us on social media for updates on the team's training progress and journey preparations.