Federation Chair embarks on third Police Unity Tour to remember fallen colleagues

THE Chair of Hampshire Police Federation joined riders from around the country on the Police Unity Tour to remember fallen colleagues. 

Zoë Wakefield and colleagues rode from the police training headquarters to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, raising much needed funds for the Care of Police Survivors charity. 

Zoë, who has taken part for three years now, said: “It is always really special. It’s the most amazing experience. It’s so lovely to be able to do something for such a brilliant charity, that gives so much support to these families. When you’re riding in memory of a colleague as well, you might be struggling to get up a hill but you look at that band on your wrist bearing that officer’s name and you think; ‘This is why I’m doing this. In memory of those officers’.”

The tour has raised more than £1 million since its inception, an amount that has a “huge” impact on families, Zoë said. 

She added: “When you listen to the families, the people that get up and speak at the memorial service and they talk about how much support they’ve had from the charity, they say that this is the club that no one wants to be a part of, but actually the support that they get from other people who understand what it’s like to be in their situation. 

“It’s so lovely to see all the families and how strong the bond is between the different families who’ve all just been through the worst thing that could happen.”

Zoë plans to ride again next year, an event which will be especially poignant as colleagues remember PC Dan Golding, who was killed in a collision last month.

She added: “Dan has only just transferred from the Met. But he was a Hampshire officer as far as we are concerned.”