The annual Tour de Aky raised a whopping £10,000 last weekend in memory of former police officer Mick 'Aky' Atkinson.
Charity cycle tour in memory of local police officer raises more than £10,000 A charity cycle tour in memory of a North Yorkshire police officer raised a whopping £10,000 for charity last weekend, taking its overall fundraising total to £75,000. The annual Tour de Aky returned for a fifth year last Saturday (15th July) in memory of PC Mick 'Aky' Atkinson. Mick sadly took his own life in October 2018. The Tour de Aky was started by Mick's best friend PC Pierre Olesqui in 2019 - a 106.6 mile cycle tour around West and North Yorkshire as a nod to Mick's collar number of 1066. And in just five years, the event has raised £75,000 for charities including MIND, Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Andy's Man Club. [caption id="attachment_13500" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] The Tour de Aky is organised in memory of PC Mick 'Aky' Atkinson.[/caption] Tour de Aky 2023 The event on Saturday saw two groups of cyclists starting in the village of Woodlesford, where Mick was born and grew up. The 106-mile route then passed through Otley, Leathley, Castley and Burn Bridge before a pitstop at Harrogate police station. The groups then headed towards Knaresborough on its way to York. Neighbourhood PC Pierre Olesqui, who created the event, said:
"The event is to try and raise awareness of mental health and how people may be struggling, whilst also remembering Aky."[caption id="attachment_70821" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] The route for this year's Tour de Aky.[/caption] Roads Policing Sgt Paul Cording BEM from North Yorkshire Police, who took part in the ride, said:
"What is incredible is, in the past 5 years over £75,000 has been raised for good causes in memory or our amazing friend PC1066 Mick ‘Aky’ Atkinson. "We need to do more, we need to talk about [mental health] and we need to raise funds for these three fantastic charities."To find out more or to contribute towards the Tour de Aky 2023, find the GoFundMe page here. Read more local stories from Your Harrogate here.