In August this year I will be taking on a new challenge, cycling 180 miles over the space of 3 days to raise money for a charity very close to my partners heart.

His father PC Gerald Michael "Ged" Walker was a police dog handler with Nottinghamshire Police who was killed in the line of duty in Bulwell, Nottingham in 2003.

After the last few years standing at the finish line, my comments of ‘it cant be that hard and if they can finish it so can I’ have finally caught up with me. So this year you won’t see me out running I’ll be on my wheels.

The Police Unity Tour is a long-distance cycle ride undertaken by hundreds of police officers across the UK in aid of Care of Police Survivors (COPS).

The primary purpose of the Police Unity Tour is to raise awareness of Law Enforcement Officers who have died in the line of duty.

The secondary purpose of the UK tour is to raise funds for Care of Police Survivors, a UK charity dedicated to helping the families of police officers and police staff who have lost their lives on duty.

The cyclists will join together and finish their journey at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, where a Service of Remembrance is being held by COPS for their fallen friends and colleagues. See the video below to hear what the Police Unity Tour means for the charity's beneficiaries (survivors).

COPS is a UK charity dedicated to helping the families of police officers and police staff who have lost their lives on duty to rebuild their lives. We aim to ensure that surviving family members have the help they need to cope with such tragedy and they remain part of the police family.

COPS provides peer support opportunities and access to counselling services to help surviving family members (‘survivors’) rebuild their shattered lives.

"Your loss is a part of who you are but COPS helps you realise that it doesn’t define you. We are all one big family."

Since its foundation in 2003, COPS has helped hundreds of police families devastated by the loss of a loved one who died on duty.