Bedfordshire Police officer's remembrance bike ride for colleague who died during initial training
A Bedfordshire Police officer has taken part in a cycle ride in memory of a colleague who died after a cardiac arrest during initial training.
PC Sam Sparkes from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, which operates alongside the Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire forces, took part in the ride on behalf of the force wearing a wristband remembering PC Alice Slominska.
Alice died on July 17, hours after collapsing at work during her initial training, suffering a cardiac arrest from a blood clot in her lung.
A GoFundMe page set up to support Alice’s family after her death has raised more than £9,000.
Alice’s funeral is due to take place at Our Lady of Czestochowa Polish RC Church on Victoria Street in Dunstable on Wednesday, September 2 at noon.
PC Sparkes also rode in memory of two other police officers – PC Jonathan Henry, who was murdered in 2007 while responding to reports of a stabbing in Luton town centre, and Sgt Reece Buckenham from Hertfordshire Constabulary, who died in a road crash in the county in 2024.
Police unity ride participants start from their force area and make their way to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
All riders then meet at a location around ten miles from the arboretum and cycle in together, accompanied by the Blue Knights police motorcycle club.
The event is specifically described as a ride, rather than a race, as participants cycle collectively at an average pace of 12 to 20mph.
At the conclusion of the ride, a memorial service takes place at the National Memorial Arboretum in Lichfield.
This is the sixth time Sam has taken part in the ride, and she said it was an emotional occasion.
“The Cambridgeshire Constabulary group made me so welcome and looked after me and made me feel part of their team,” Sam said.
“To also ride with a survivor, who I’d been the Family Liaison Officer for too, was incredibly emotional.
“I did shed some tears when I arrived at the end. The team at Care of Police Survivors had given me the band for Alice for this ride, and when I got to the Bedfordshire tree and memorial, I did have a cry.
“The whole event was incredible – if you could bottle the atmosphere and feeling in the national arboretum when everyone arrives and are gathered together, that’s the spirit of the event.”