His days of hiking through the rainforest are over: Fr Paul has a new quad bike!

Churchgoers in Preston have raised more than £3,000 to buy a quad bike for a Lancashire priest working in South America.  The congregation at St Wilfrid's Roman Catholic Church in Preston raised the funds after hearing from Fr Paul Martin SJ that he had to hike round a parish covering an area the size of Wales.  The quad bike will enable him to reach parishioners in remote areas of the vast rainforests of Guyana where he has worked for the past 20 years.

'Fr Paul spent several weeks with us while visiting his family in Liverpool.  We decided to raise the money for the quad bike after he told us how much more efficient it would be compared to backpacking his way round 26 missionary stations twice a year,' said Geoff Chesworth, the Treasurer of St Wilfrid's St Vincent de Paul Society.  Geoff's wife, Brenda, who is President of the SVP, presented the cheque for £3,120 to Fr Tim Curtis SJ, Director of Jesuit Missions.  The funds were raised by a social evening at St Wilfrid's, donations from the church shop and the weekly church Dance Club, as well as collections and gifts from individuals.

'It was very fulfilling to be able to help Fr Paul get round his massive rainforest parish more quickly and comfortably,' added Geoff.

British Jesuits have worked in Guyana since 1857, and this year celebrated 100 years of working in the Guyanese Interior.

 Guyana Jesuits