Cyclists set off for Police Unity Tour

19 August 2022

A team of riders from West Mercia Police were today setting off on the 2022 Police Unity Tour cycle challenge.

The annual event is now 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 has traditionally been held over the last weekend in July but because of the policing commitments to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham the 2022 event takes place this weekend.

The West Mercia riders, including West Mercia Police Federation branch secretary Steve Butler, set off from Hindlip Hall this morning and will 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 will be completed today and tomorrow with a shorter final leg to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire on Sunday morning when PUT teams from across England and Wales join together at the COPS memorial service attended by fallen officers’ families, chief officers, Police Federation officials and other policing partners.

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.

People can pledge a donation via West Mercia Police Federation secretary Steve Butler’s JustGiving page.