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Your Harrogate backs return of Tour de Aky in memory of police officer

Friday, 2 February 2024 09:00

Your Harrogate is sponsoring the shirts for the Tour de Aky 2024, an event held annually in memory of PC Mick 'Aky' Atkinson.

Your Harrogate backs return of Tour de Aky in memory of police officer Your Harrogate is proud to be supporting the annual Tour de Aky charity event when it returns later this year. The event was launched in 2019 by PC Pierre Olesqui in memory of his best friend and police colleague PC Mick ‘Aky’ Atkinson. Mick sadly took his own life in 2018 following struggles with his mental health. Pierre has been organising the Tour de Aky every year since, travelling 106.6 miles as a nod to Aky’s collar number. The event has raised more than £76,000 for various charities. And this year, Your Harrogate is proud to be sponsoring the shirts that participants will be wearing for the event on 13th July. [caption id="attachment_71618" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Tour de Aky in 2023.[/caption] The Tour de Aky 2024 will be again be fundraising for MIND, Andy’s Man Club and Yorkshire Air Ambulance after raising more than £10,000 for the charities in 2023. Pierre told Your Harrogate:

“Aky was a police dog handler and a massive personality. I just wanted to remember and honour him. “We go to locations that had importance to him. This year includes Elland Road - he was a massive Leeds fan - Headingley Stadium, his school, family home and police stations he worked at.”

The route will start in Woodlesford, the village where Aky grew up, and includes a visit to Your Harrogate’s studio before moving on to York Police Station. Pierre added:

“Your Harrogate has been absolutely fantastic so I’ll be so proud to have them on my shirt this year. “The basis of it is about mental health and talking. If you’re on a bike for eight hours, I challenge anyone to not talk! “The slogan ‘it’s okay to not be okay’ but the ride is only successful because of the support we’ve received.”

If you’d like to support the Tour de Aky 2024, donate via the GoFundMe page or find out more on Facebook here. Read more local stories from Your Harrogate here.

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