Ride of Respect / Ring of Red – Remembrance Day - Sunday 12th November 2017, England

Organised by Julia Stevenson and her crew, the Ride of Respect is an annual mass ride undertaken by motorcyclists. Read on to find out more about this amazing event.

Organised by Julia Stevenson and her crew, the Ride of Respect is an annual mass ride undertaken by motorcyclists. The purpose is to pay homage to tri-service personnel who gave their lives (along with their families), during the World Wars and subsequent conflicts to ensure that peace prevails among the forthcoming generations.

The Ride of Respect encompasses both the southern and northern parts of England. Southside riders sporting red attire will form a massive poppy around the M25 while Northside riders do the same on the M60. Over the last five years, the team has been able to gather almost £500,000 for the sake of military charities.

The Ride of Respect’s primary function is also to provide for those patriots who do not fall under any specific military charity or fail to meet their criterion. Along with financial aid, emotional reinforcement will also be offered for those suffering from PTSD, depression and anxiety issues. The event has gained its fair share of support (and following on social media), owing to its unflinching desire to help those dealing with struggles.

Each year, the Ring of Red has seen an immense increase in the number of participants and donors. The Ring of Red (which is part of the Ride of Respect initiative), was originally conceived as an idea to create the world’s largest poppy by Julia and her team as a sign of support to strained ex-servicemen (and women).

In its sixth year, the Ring of Red hopes to add as many more to the chain as possible and spread the word for greater receipts in the form of friendly donations. The purpose of the event will be to get all participant riders, dressed in red, from the assembly-point onto the respective M25 or M60 motorway where they shall move in a clockwise direction. The foremost rider will join with the last rider forming a ‘ring of red’. It is upto the riders to decide when to get off the ring, although the general consensus among participants will be to ride for a minimum of 30 minutes so that the ring formed is an impressive one. A single lap itself will take roughly about half an hour so the chances of forming a terrific poppy are quite high.

If you wish to exhibit support to the event, you could also buy some of the merchandise (including t-shirts, jackets, scarves, suit collars and poppy-pins). All of the merch is available online at http://www.madebyveterans.org.uk/

Time of Ride: 13:30 approx.

The event is certainly going to be iconic with all the valuable support on board, (names such as Ali Scott, Luke Eastwood and Jeanette Kiely will resonate with most previous participants) – plan your meeting point in advance with your fellow riders and make the Ring of Red a grand success yet again. Salute!

“On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we shall remember them!”