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30 TOP COVER SPRING 2024

Channel Islands with nearly 900 members. There
are also Chapters in 22 European countries. Some
members organise their annual touring holidays
to take in as many rallies as possible – Austria this
week, the Black Forest next week, and squeeze in
Belgium on the way home.

A common bond
Members of most bike clubs have, by definition,
something in common whether that be ownership
of a particular motorcycle, or they are bike riding
members of organisations such as The Royal
British Legion. Being a member of the Blue
Knights is not about what bike you ride, so long
as you own one; it’s about who you are or what
you were, because the membership is primarily
made up of serving and retired law enforcement
personnel, including police officers, prison officers,
customs officers and any other personnel with
statutory powers of arrest. Whether you’re retired
or still serving, you always have a common bond
with members.
Because of the local and regional structure,
meeting up with friends and fellow members
is easy. Most Chapters have monthly breakfast
meetings and ride-outs. Some hold Chapter rallies
in the summer and social gatherings advertised on
the website, social media or online club magazine,
and any member of the club can attend.
Chapters are as active as their members wish
them to be, organising all the usual biker’s
distractions, bike runs, BBQs and biking weekends.
If you want to get involved or take advantage of
someone else’s organisation and local knowledge,
there’s always an event going on somewhere. Rally
weekends are great social events with partying,
fundraising and ride-outs led by local members,
taking you to places the guidebooks cannot reach.
Because most members of Blue Knights are
serving or retired law enforcement personnel,
there is a strong background of helping people
and supporting worthy causes and internationally
the club is proud to publicise the fact that over
$19.5 million has been raised to support a
multitude of charities across the world.
In the UK one of the main charities is Care
of Police Survivors (COPS), and we support
the annual Survivors Weekend at the National
Arboretum in Staffordshire in July each year. Easter
egg and Christmas toy runs to support children’s
charities take place each year, and many charities
have benefited from Blue Knights support.

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