Police Unity Tour: Survivor pays tribute to Fed member after riding with Cambridgeshire chapter

Janine (left) with Cambridgeshire ride lead Caroline Scully

The partner of the late PC Bruce Lister has thanked a Cambridgeshire Police Federation member for inviting her to take part in the 2024 Police Unity Tour (PUT).

Janine Doughty, together with Bruce’s daughter, Megan Lister, were approached by Cambridgeshire ride lead Caroline Scully about completing the 120-mile bike journey after they had met at last year’s PUT.

Each year, funds and awareness are raised from the Tour for the Care of Police Survivors (COPS). The charity support the bereaved families of police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

Traditionally, to conclude the Tour, an Annual Service of Remembrance is held by COPS to mark these fallen officers.

Bruce was a forensic collision investigator with the Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Roads Policing Unit and passed away last year. He was one of a number of fallen officers honoured by the Cambridgeshire chapter over the weekend of Friday, 26 July to Sunday, 28 July.

 “Caroline rode for Bruce last year, and I met her on the Saturday at Drayton Manor and thought she was lovely. She obviously had a passion for the Tour too, having led the team quite a few times. She told me that if I ever wanted to do it myself, I just had to reach out,” said Janine.

“I thought it made sense to do it. I knew it would be emotional but rewarding and a good challenge – I even bought a new bike just to take part.

“Megan had that same enthusiasm too, so we were in it together.”

Janine added she also saw the PUT as a chance to give something back to COPS, who she praised for the level of care they afforded her following Bruce’s death.

She continued: “In the first year after Bruce, they have been invaluable. I have attended a number of lunches and Zoom meetings with fellow survivors and have also been to a British Police Symphony Orchestra show courtesy of COPS. They are great at what they do with bringing people in grief together.

“I also went to a spouses’ weekend away in May last year, which felt even more special as you can’t get more specific than that in terms of survivors – we were all there because we had lost our partners in the police, so everyone knew exactly what everyone else was going through.

“They’ve really helped me to realise that I am not on my own.”

Team Cambridgeshire departed from Force Headquarters at 9am on the Friday of the Tour and put in a physically demanding effort to cover miles across this day and the Saturday, stopping at Drayton Manor theme park to meet the families of fallen officers they were cycling in tribute to.

The group then arrived in Lichfield, Staffordshire on the Sunday morning to join PUT riders from across England and Wales at the National Memorial Arboretum, where the emotionally moving Annual Service of Remembrance was held.

Janine says the service was a poignant end to a weekend well spent.

“In terms of your emotions, it was very full-on, but it’s such a beautiful event attended by so many people.

“The whole journey had its tough parts – I thought the second day was toughest physically. The team were so supportive of me and Megan, though, and they really looked after us, so I want to thank them for that.

“It was so nice to see officers taking part who had no immediate connection to any of the people we were commemorating, but simply wanted to pay their respects.

“I am so glad I did it. Although you know why you’re there, it was still very enjoyable.

“We’re already thinking we might do it next year, too,” she ended.

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