Nine riders from Ilkley Cycling Club have completed a commemorative cycling event in honour of the late parliamentarian Jo Cox, accumulating a sum close to £4,000 for her memorial foundation.
The participants traced the 290-mile Jo Cox Way route from Yorkshire to the capital, covering the distance over five days during mid-July.
The group comprised individuals ranging from their early thirties to their eighties and tackled 13,000 feet of elevation along the way.
The Jo Cox Way has been staged annually for eleven years, having commenced shortly after Ms Cox’s murder in 2016.
The route draws its inspiration from her inaugural address to the House of Commons, in which she declared that shared human experiences outweigh those that separate people.
The ride set off from the Princess Mary Athletics Stadium in Cleckheaton, situated within Ms Cox’s former Batley and Spen constituency, and concluded in Southwark, central London.
Seven members of the Ilkley Cycling Club met with Jo Cox’s relatives last weekend to hand over their fundraising contribution.
The presentation was made to her parents, Jean and Gordon Leadbeater, alongside her sister Kim Leadbeater, who now serves as the MP for Spen Valley.
Among those who took part were Diane Anderson at 60, Judith Metcalf at 67, Alex Edwards at 32, Deborah Harrison at 66, Sally Black at 67, and Paul Harrison at 67.
Liz Burrows, aged 51, and Kath Lyons, aged 80, also completed the course.
Ms Leadbeater expressed that the greatest tribute to her sister lay not simply in repeating her words but in embodying them, demonstrating that common ground surpasses division.
She observed that the cycling event exemplified this principle by bringing together women and men of different ages and backgrounds, from Ilkley, across Yorkshire, and from throughout the United Kingdom and beyond, fostering genuine friendships through shared endeavour.
She noted that occasions of this nature assist her family in managing their grief.
While acknowledging that ten years have elapsed since her sister’s death and that the pain would never fully diminish, Ms Leadbeater stated that community events of this kind, along with the dedication of individuals such as these riders, had provided ongoing strength.