'We ride for those who died': Police bike ride honours fallen officers with funds donated to bereaved families
Officers are completing a charity bike ride
Police officers who died in the line of duty are being remembered through a poignant 300-mile charity bike ride.
Thirty-nine cyclists from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary and Thames Valley Police will be taking part in the annual UK Police Unity Tour this year which will raise money for families of officers who have died.
Cheered on by Chief Constable Alexis Boon and other colleagues, the riders departed from Netley on Thursday, August 6, with the aim of pedalling to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire by Sunday, in time to coincide with the Care of Police Survivors (COPS) annual service of remembrance.
DC Luke Fairchild will once again be leading the group, after last year’s efforts raised more than £25,000 for the COPS charity, bringing the national total to more than £300,000.
He said: “We ride for those who died. Every year the tour gets bigger and bigger, and it grows in meaning and impact.
“This will be my second time leading the tour on behalf of Hampshire Police and my fifth time riding.
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"Every penny we raise means so much, the work COPS does to support these bereaved families is absolutely incredible and I’m so proud to be supporting this once again.”
Each rider cycles in memory of an individual officer who has died in the line of duty, with all funds raised being donated to COPS, a charity which supports the families left behind when an officer dies in the line of duty.
Some of the cyclists have already competed a 60-mile tour of the Isle of Wight on Wednesday, August 5.
DC Fairchild added: “ I will be riding in honour and memory of PC Ronald Hull Hertfordshire Constabulary.” The Police Unity Tour is more than a yearly event and fundraiser. It’s a calling of duty that epitomises public service.
“This is all achieved through relentless support for our fallen colleagues and survivors, to honour their memory and support the families left behind.