PREPARATIONS are underway for the annual Noel Daley Memorial Motorcycle Run.

The Leviathan MCC will host this year’s on Saturday, April 13.

Noel was an experienced rider who was killed on April 13, 2007, after his bike was in collision with another vehicle near Tirril, Penrith.

The first memorial run took place in 2008 and has taken place, on the nearest Saturday to the anniversary of his death, every year since.

It is a time for fellow bikers and friends to pay their respects to Noel and his family, to raise money for a good cause (Cumbria Wheelchair Sports Club) and to raise awareness to other road users to ‘think bike’ when travelling on their journeys.

The event was set up by Noel’s friends and family to finish the journey he tragically never got to finish.

The annual bike run has raised many thousands of pounds for charity over the years and regularly attracts a few hundred riders.

The run is a 60-mile round trip and riders will gather, from 11.30am, for a 12.30pm start from Swifts Bank car park, Carlisle.

The run will be followed by an evening of entertainment at the Milton Hilltop Hotel, also in Carlisle, featuring live music from BlackJack, supported by DJ Gary Devlin.

The cost is £5 per rider, pillion or side car passenger. Children under 16 are free.

The evening entertainment is free for those taking part in the ride or £5 for those who are paying on the door.

Hazel Barker, wife of PC Bill Barker who lost his life on Northside Bridge, Workington, in the floods in November 2009, is a supporter of the event.

She said: “Please can we respectfully ask as many as possible to support this amazing event.

“One of the many aspects to Bill’s work, as traffic officer on Cumbria’s Road Policing Unit (RPU), was that of family liaison officer or FLO, supporting families of those who lost their lives’ in road traffic collisions.

“Bill was extremely dedicated to these incredibly brave families and felt honoured and privileged to be the FLO to the incredibly brave Daley family.

“Please help to continue this support by showing that Noel will forever be remembered.

“Our thoughts are, as always, with Noel’s amazingly brave family.”