Police Unity Tour this weekend: Federation message of support

1 August 2025

West Mercia Police Federation has sent a good luck message to all the riders from the Force taking part in this year’s Police Unity Tour, the annual charity cycle ride raising awareness of fallen officers and raising funds for the charity that supports them.

Those taking part in this year’s tour will be setting off on Friday morning to embark on a 180-mile trip that will end at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire on Sunday morning.

They will meet riders from other forces across England and Wales at Drayton Manor on Saturday evening so they can ride en masse to the arboretum where they will be greeted by the families of fallen officers and other supporters of the event.

A spokesperson for West Mercia Police Federation says: “We want to wish all the riders good luck on the tour and also thank them for their efforts for COPS. It is a physically challenging ride, but also an emotional one too.

“Their efforts will be very much appreciated by the officers’ families and will truly show that our fallen colleagues – and the loved ones they left behind – are never forgotten. They remain part of the policing family and that should always be the case.”

Each cyclist will wear a wristband engraved with the name of a fallen officer and where possible will present it to the family of that officer at the end of the ride.

Support

Once the cyclists have arrived, the Care of Police Survivors (COPS) charity, which provides peer support for the families, will host its annual service of remembrance which features a roll of honour for all the officers to have died in the last 12 months.

The service also includes speeches by the families of fallen officers who talk about the devastating impact their loved one’s death had on them and the way in which COPS had helped them rebuild their lives.

The charity cares for relatives in a variety of ways, including by bringing them together with other grieving families and by offering access to counselling and specialist bereavement services.