Police Unity Tour 2024
Crashes, a puncture, a sheared off pedal, donations in the street, and support and applause from local people.
This year’s Police Unity Tour (PUT) was an eventful and emotional one for the team from Cambridgeshire Police.
Retired Chief Inspector Keren Pope said: “It was really good. It was eventful and full of emotion at times, and all in support of a great cause.”
The sponsored 110-mile cycle ride raises awareness of and funds for the Care of Police Survivors (COPS) charity, which supports the families of police officers who die on duty.
The Cambridgeshire Police team was made up of 10 riders with three support staff. It included two survivors from Hertfordshire, whose dad and husband, PC Bruce Lister, died on duty last year.
The team experienced four minor crashes, a puncture, and, for one rider, the pedal shearing off as she was cycling.
And there was plenty of support along the way, including a generous donation from a person in Leicestershire during a pit-stop at a village café.
Keren said: “People are so lovely. We had a couple of cyclists come and chat to us, and when they realise what you’re cycling for, they’re really supportive.”
She added: “We were riding with two survivors this year.
“We were really focused on them, how they were getting on and talking about their experiences of COPS.
“We know it’s a great charity, but listening to what they’ve done for them in the aftermath of their loss was really good.”
Keren took part in memory of her colleague and friend Andreas (Andy) Newbury, who was killed while on duty in February 2003.
Each rider cycles in memory of an officer. They are given a metal wrist band with the officer’s name on it, date of birth, the force they were from and the date on which they died.
“Andy was a friend and lived in my village, so it was nice to be riding in memory of him,” Keren said. “I will be popping my bracelet on his grave later this week.”
The route took the team from Cambridgeshire Police headquarters in Huntingdon to Market Harborough in Leicestershire on day one, and then to Tamworth and first the town’s Snow Dome where all the riders taking part from across England and Wales meet up.
They then head to Drayton Manor theme park to meet the bereaved families of fallen officers who will be there as part of the COPS survivor weekend event in preparation for the Service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum, where the ride finishes Sunday morning.
“The ride from to Drayton Manor was lovely because we had a lot of the locals come out and were clapping for us,” Keren said.
“We were talking to the two survivors in our team, which makes it that bit more poignant.
“And then when you ride into Drayton Manor you have all the families there clapping you in, which is just lovely because you are doing it for them and they appreciate it.”
Keren added: “When we rode into the arboretum where everyone is clapping you, I got emotional because that’s when the survivor I was riding next to, she got emotional. I think it hit her.
“It’s about the policing family. If something happens to an officer in any force, the whole of policing feels it, and it’s knowing that support is there.”
You can still donate to the team by visiting their JustGiving page.
