A group of "merry" Christian gentlefolk are planning a pub-hopping Christmas pilgrimage to mark the first anniversary of the "legendary meanderings" of the Bishop of Southwark, Tom Butler, after a reception at the Irish Embassy last December.

The pilgrimage is being organised by the satirical Christian website ShipofFools as a fundraiser for Kids for Kids, the Sudan children's charity supported by the Bishop of Southwark in his Lent appeal last Easter.

Wearing "optional" fancy dress modelled on characters in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, a work of fiction nevertheless thought to be an accurate portrayal of a typical medieval pilgrimage, the modern-day pilgrims will follow as closely as possible the route taken by Bishop Butler after he left the Embassy at 9pm to return to his home in Tooting.

Bishop Butler, 67, one of the most senior bishops in the Church of England, has consistently denied he was drunk on the night in question. During the events of the evening, he lost his briefcase, crucifix, mobile phone and memory. He turned up at his episcopal residence with a black eye, convinced he had been mugged.

He said at the time: 'It would be entirely out of character for me to be drunk. I still have amnesia and hope there are no long-term effects. I have asked myself what happened that night and have no answer. It's very bizarre.'

Mercedes owner Paul Sumpter later went public on how, at one point in the evening, he discovered the Bishop seated in the back of his car in Southwark's Crucifix Lane, throwing toys out of it. When challenged, Bishop Butler is reported to have said: "I'm the Bishop of Southwark. It's what I do."

Police found no trace of a mugger. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, decided to take no action against the Bishop after an investigation by a senior judge recommended that nothing be done.

Mr Sumpter accused the Church of a whitewash. He told the Evening Standard: "I would have told them, but I have never been asked. I know steaming drunk when I see it and he was steaming."

The 8 December pilgrimage will begin in a pub in or near Park Lane in central London, near the Irish Embassy in Grosvenor Place. The pilgrims will walk to Hyde Park Corner underground, travel to London Bridge, then walk to Crucifix Lane to sup at The Suchard Bar.

Those pilgrims capable of carrying on will then return to London Bridge and take the Northern Line to Tooting Bec, finishing their journey at a pub in Streatham, where they will consume homemade fudge. The number is being limited to the 30 pilgrims who assembled in Southwark at the start of the Canterbury Tales, although well-wishers are being invited to give cheer at various points along the route.

At least one clergyman has already declined to take part in the pilgrimage. He said he could not risk it, because he had to preach a sermon the following morning.

A spokeswoman for the Bishop of Southwark said: "There has been a great deal of earlier media coverage about the events of December 2006 and the Bishop of Southwark is not planning to comment further on this matter."