Police Unity Tour team in final countdown

17 August 2022

Sarah Stables riding into the arboretum after a previous PUT.

A team of cyclists from Nottinghamshire Police are making last minute preparations for the 2022 Police Unity Tour (PUT) ride which gets underway on Friday morning (19 August).

The Nottinghamshire riders are part of the PUT East Midlands Chapter alongside fellow officers and staff from Derbyshire and Leicestershire.

The event is now in its 10th year and as usual will be raising funds for the Care of Police Survivors (COPS) charity as well as increasing awareness and honouring police officers who have died in the line of duty.

The team is led by Sarah Stables, who is also president of the East Midlands Chapter, and features Ben Skellern, Jeremy Gascoyne, Paul James Lefford, Gavin Berry, Feron Thomas, Christophe Sutton, Liam Thacker, Matthew Rogers, Melissa Evans, Simon O’Connor and Neil Waugh.

Rebecca and Matthew Walker, whose father PC Ged Walker was killed on duty in 2003 when he was dragged 100 yards as he tried to take the keys from a stolen taxi, will also be riding with the Nottinghamshire team in memory of their Dad.

Last year’s event was the first physical ride in two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic but saw the £1 million milestone hit for the amount raised for COPS since the inaugural ride.

The event has gone from strength to strength every year and due to its amazing success, organisers have formed more local chapters than ever before for the 2022 edition and the East Midlands chapter is at full capacity.

The Nottinghamshire riders and their East Midlands colleagues will set off on their 180-mile challenge in their home county before following a hilly route into the heart of Derbyshire before stopping off at Ripley for a service of remembrance and wreath laying.

The team then cycles south into Leicestershire for their first overnight stop and the following day enters Staffordshire and has a full day in the saddle before meeting up at Drayton Manor Park.

On Sunday, all PUT chapters  from across England and Wales ride into the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas ahead of the COPS memorial service attended by fallen officers’ families, chief officers, Federation officials and other policing partners.

Supporters who want to make a donation can do so via the East Midlands Chapter’s JustGiving page.