Senior police team set off on charity ride
Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer and a team of senior police riders from Devon, Cornwall and Dorset got on their bikes today to begin a 225-mile cross-border cycle challenge in aid of local charities.
The team of 20 police officers and staff from the two police forces left from Christchurch police station in Dorset this morning and are aiming to cycle to Land’s End in Cornwall in three days.
They will pedal through a county each day before reaching their destination on Sunday evening.
The route is especially tough due to the hilly nature of the route and riders will battle to climb 14,271 feet over the course of the journey.
Devon and Cornwall Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer, Deputy Chief Constable Bill Skelly and Assistant Chief Constable Russ Middleton are among the riders.
Officers and staff have united for the challenge to raise as much money as possible for three worthy causes which are all based within the region.
More than £3,500 has been raised so far and funds will be divided equally between Julia’s House, a children’s hospice in Dorset, cancer charity Force in Devon and The Cove Macmillan Support Centre in Cornwall, a dedicated facility for people affected by cancer and their families.
Today the riders plan to cycle from Christchurch to Honiton, before heading onto Bodmin on day two. On the final day they will pass through Hayle to complete the journey in Land’s End.
It is hoped that the public will come out and show their support for the riders, who will be easy to spot travelling in blue and white shirts.
One of the riders, Chief Superintendent Jim Nye, Strategic Alliance Commander for Operations, said: “We are all really looking forward to taking part in this unique ride as a team but it will also be a personal challenge for everyone. It is certainly going to be tough as some of the riders are complete novices and hadn’t been on a bike for 20 years before they started training for this event.
“One of the aims of the ride is to recognise the new working relationship between the forces and to appreciate the geographic distance of the area we police. But more importantly we are trying to raise as much money as we can for three very worthwhile cancer charities in Devon, Dorset and Cornwall.
“The public has been very generous so far and we hope we can do these charities proud by raising a substantial amount of money to support their important work. We would love to see people to come out and support us along the way if they can so we would encourage them to give us a wave or donate to the charities.”
Anyone who would like to donate to the charities to support the event can visit: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/allianceride
You can follow the team’s progress on Twitter via the hashtag #AllianceCharityRide.
