A team of officers from Staffordshire Police have taken part in the Light the Lakes hill walking event which is held every year in memory of Surrey DC Heather Cooper who was murdered in 2012.
Staffordshire Police Federation treasurer Claire Bond completed the challenge alongside colleagues from the Force as the group scaled the 780m Kidsty Pike to raise funds for the Care Of Police Survivors (COPS) charity.
Claire, who nearly lost her life four years ago when a suspect deliberately drove into her, said: “The whole weekend was so memorable, and although my legs, arms - in fact my whole body - is aching, I am so grateful to just be here, alive and well.
“Meeting new friends, saying hello to those I met last year and helping others feel the euphoria that I feel on completing this challenge is just amazing.
“I’m proud to be a British police officer, I am proud to be part of the policing family and proud to represent Staffordshire Police Force, raising a large sum of money for such a brilliant charity and cause as COPS.
“We managed to sell about 300 raffle tickets in the weeks approaching the event and have raised over £4,000 for COPS to date.”
Light the Lakes was the brainchild of DC Cooper’s father, retired police sergeant Ian Davies, and sees police officers, family and friends climb one of the area's iconic fells and then light a blue flare in honour of fallen colleagues at 3am.
Officers from all 43 forces in England and Wales signed up this year and those that have taken part say it provides an incredibly poignant moment of reflection for members of the police family and gives officers the chance to continue to remember fallen colleagues by lighting the flare.
The Staffordshire Police team consisted of Chief Constable Chris Noble, former Chief Constable Jane Sawyers, former Chief Superintendents Juliet Prince and Sarah Wainwright and her husband Steve Derry, Superintendent Nicky Furlong, Chief Inspector Clair Langley and her husband Superintendent Brandon Langley, Superintendent Paul Talbot, Inspector Vicky Ison, Louise Sherwani, Ruth Stretton-Burns, Laura Turner, Becky Mulcahy, Jennie Samarsinghe from the THRIVE mental health and wellbeing app, Force Chaplain Steve Parker plus Claire, her husband Darren who is a serving officer with West Midlands Police, and her friends Nicky Driscoll and Nikki Rowland.
It took them around four hours to reach the summit of Kidsty Pike before they set up camp ahead of the 3am light-up and then another four hours to make their descent.
Outgoing Federation branch chair Phil Jones met the walkers at the end and served up well-deserved bacon butties and cups of tea from the Staffordshire Police Federation welfare van.
Claire, who also took part in Light the Lakes last year, said her motivation to take part came from her own brush with death in September 2018 when she was run over, dragged along the ground and crushed against a fence as she tried to stop an out-of-control driver heading towards the Stafford 10k race route.
She required a five-hour operation to save her shattered leg, almost lost her life and was left with both physical and mental scars.
Reflecting on her involvement with Light the Lakes, she said: “I think it began as part of my incentive to pay forward following my incident in September 2018.
“I realised I could celebrate how far I had come with my recovery at the same time as raising money for such a fabulous charity and cause that, to be fair, my husband could have ended up using had I been killed that day.
“The highlight for me is feeling the emotion of being grateful to be alive, to be in such fabulous surroundings such as the Lake District and in really taking a minute to realise what is important in life and then meeting and celebrating with other folk from around the country who feel the same as you do.
“Meeting Lissie Harper and being able to give her a hug after all the heartbreak she has been through was a massive high for me too.
“I think the whole experience brings you down to earth and feels like a reality check, for me personally.
“I am grateful to be alive, and I am holding that flare, thinking that but also saying to those who have passed and their families that we haven’t forgotten them and the sacrifice they made.”
Claire Bond (left) with regional Federation representative Hayley Aley.
The Staffs team.
