Customer Stories: Police Unity Tour
At Kalas we serve a diverse variety of customer types, who have at least one thing in common - they all want to create their own custom designed cycle clothing. These include individuals, small groups of friends, clubs, teams, companies, charities, and events. In our series Customer Stories, some of them tell us how we helped them achieve their objectives and highlight the aspects of Kalas’ service that they benefitted from the most.
Police Unity Tour - The Thin Blue Line
In 2024 Kalas became the official cycle wear supplier to the UK Police Unity Tour. We talked to Police Constable Simon Watters and Police Sergeant Grant Donaldson, two members of the event’s organising committee. They told us about the event and the important work it supports, as well as why they decided to work together with Kalas to produce their custom designed cycling kit.
US Origins
The first Police Unity Tour took place in the United States in 1997, when 18 serving officers of the New Jersey Police Department made a four-day pilgrimage to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington D.C., arriving on the 12th May just in time to celebrate Peace Officers Memorial Day on the 15th of May. That first fundraising bike ride raised USD 18 000 and aimed to raise public awareness of Law Enforcement Officers who have died in the line of duty and honour their sacrifices. Between 150-200 police officers are lost every year in the US and the self-funded memorial features the names of each one. Similar events have taken place every year since.
PC Watters is a full-time cycle team traffic officer with London’s Metropolitan Police Service. Most days he patrols the streets of the UK Capital by bike. In his own time, he is a member of Newbury Velo Cycling Club (also a Kalas customer) and enjoys the occasional sportive ride too. His event responsibilities include organising the kit, training and international liaison. He tells us how the Police Unity Tour came to the UK: “The first UK Police Unity Tour took place in 2013. Inspired by the original US Police Unity Tour, Assistant Commissioner of the Cayman Islands Police Service Rob Atkin MBE and Inspector Gary Bayfield MBE, organised a three-day ride from The National Police Memorial in Westminster, London to The National Memorial Arboretum, in Staffordshire, in the centre of England. The UK Police Unity Tour has taken place every year since, even featuring a virtual ride during COVID.”
Vital Fundraising For Bereaved Families
The UK event contributes to the self-funded UK registered charity COPS – Care Of Police Survivors. Money raised by COPS goes towards the long-term care of the surviving families of serving police officers who have lost their life whilst on duty. The 2024 event is expected to raise £240,000 once all donations have been counted. Over the 12 years of its existence the UK Police Unity Tour has contributed £1,400,000 to COPS, transforming the charity’s ability to deliver ongoing support to bereaved families.
Using funds raised by the UK Police Unity Tour the charity has been able to support several initiatives such as peer support spousal, parental, sibling and kids weekends throughout the year. In 2022 the charity was able to purchase their very own respite house - a six-bedroom property in Weston-super-Mare (on the English Westcoast). Named ‘Unity House’ it is available for families to use free of charge all year round providing a peaceful space for survivors.
The UK Tour
Following the success of the first UK Police Unity Tour starting in London, police officers started to come from all over the UK to participate and the numbers quickly grew to maximum capacity. Simon tells us “120 riders in central London stretched our logistical capabilities, so new regional Chapters were formed meaning smaller groups departing from different locations around the UK. All the different Chapters meet in Arlewas and ride into the National Memorial Arboretum on the final day of the three-day event. The ride-in coincides with the charity’s annual service of remembrance.
“We have representatives from almost every police force in the UK. Typically, they first come to join the London ride then afterwards create a new Chapter which sets off locally from where they are based. Every year we add two to three new Chapters. We now have Chapters based across the full length of the UK, from Dorset on the south coast as far north as Scotland. This year we had 480 participants and added new Chapters from forces in Surrey, Sussex, Yorkshire and from the Military Police.”
The ride concludes with a Service of Remembrance. Participants of the ride wear a wrist band bearing the name of the fallen officer whom they have ridden in memory of. Upon arrival they meet the family of that officer and hand over the wrist band.
We Ride For Those Who Died
Sergeant Donaldson has worked on every event in the UK since 2016. He is responsible for event communications and runs the social media. He told us about the new design: “This is our 12th year, and we have had a few different designs in the past. Most recently the jersey was white, but we were keen to get away from that because in the UK the wet weather can lead to the kit getting dirty very quickly. So, we moved to a blue jersey, again like the design they have in the US."
“The design Is dominated by a dark blue stripe running down the front left side of the jersey. We call It ‘the thin blue line’. This is a term that is often used to refer to the police as the line between law-and-order and chaos in society. On the jersey the line runs from the shoulder, over the heart and down to the waist. It features the slogan ‘We Ride For Those Who Died’. We’ve added the Union flag to the sleeve to Identify us as the UK Tour. There is also a yellow version of the same design for our ride marshals to make them easily identifiable.”
We didn’t realise Kalas was a brand for us
Simon explains how the process started with Kalas: “This year, I took over the kit design. The timing was fortuitous because I was just starting the process of searching for a new supplier when I was contacted by Kalas. I was pleasantly surprised at how proactive Kalas were. We quickly arranged a meeting at our office in central London where we were able to see samples of the clothes and try them on for fit."
“I must admit I was surprised that the kit was affordable. I only knew Kalas as suppliers of high-performance race kit to the Great Britain Cycling Team. I didn’t realise they had a range of options that were Ideal for us. The main Item we went for was the ACTIVE Spinn jersey. It was perfect for what we needed. Good quality and a piece of kit that we can re-use again and again, not just for the event. We also ordered a variety of different shorts, jackets and gilets from the PRO and ELITE ranges, as well as arm warmers and helmet covers.”
Get Involved
The next event takes place from 01-03 August 2025. Serving police officers, other police force employees, or relatives of those lost are eligible to participate in the ride. To donate visit: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/put2025
