Cycling fund-raisers prepare for Police Unity Tour

7 July 2022

A team of riders from West Mercia Police are gearing up for this year’s Police Unity Tour cycle challenge.

The annual event has become a major highlight on the policing calendar and has raised more than £1 million for the Care Of Police Survivors (COPS) charity since the first UK ride back in 2013.

The ride is usually held over the last weekend in July but because of the policing commitments to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham it will start on Friday 19 August this year.

As usual, the ride will come to an end at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, where riders will meet up with family, friends and survivors for a poignant service of remembrance.

It will be the fourth time West Mercia Police Federation secretary Steve Butler has taken part as part of the West Midlands PUT Chapter, which also includes riders from Staffordshire, Warwickshire and West Midlands Police, and he and his team mates have already made a great start to their fund-raising efforts.

Steve Butler and West Mercia colleagues on last year's PUT ride

West Mercia Police Federation, the branch Group Insurance Scheme and West Mercia Police Welfare Fund have each donated £500 for all the West Mercia riders taking part.

Steve said: “As always the ride is in honour and memory of our colleagues who have lost their lives on duty and to raise funds to help COPS continue their support for the families left behind.”

People can donate to Steve’s JustGiving page.

The West Mercia riders will set off from Hindlip Hall and cover around 200 miles over the next three days. They will each be wearing a coloured wristband dedicated to a fallen colleague throughout the ride.

The bulk of the ride is completed over the Friday and Saturday with a shorter final leg to the National Memorial Arboretum on the Sunday morning.