DETTA Regan cuts an unlikely figure in the turbulent world of Middle Eastern politics.

In fact she would claim her role as the leader of a growing movement for the promotion of peace has come about almost entirely accidentally.

But mother-of-two Detta is in the thick of it all. Every 18 months or so, she heads a convoy of more than 500 women from across the globe through Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Palestinian territories.

Their aim is simple but ambitious. Under the umbrella of the non-political organisation Follow The Women, the Pedal For Peace bike ride aims to raise the profile of the region and consequently the efforts to put an end to the violence that has gripped its people.

As a result of her work Detta, who grew up in Meir and attended St Dominic's Priory School in Stone, was named as UK Woman Of Europe in 2001. She topped that achievement in 2004 with a nomination for the Nobel Peace prize.

It's also brought Detta, an international youth worker, into contact with some of the most influential figures in the Middle East.

Follow The Women boasts an impressive list among its patrons – First Ladies Asma al-Assad of Syria, Queen Rania of Jordan and Lebanese female MP Bahia Hariri.

A few weeks before his death, Yasser Arafat gave Detta his personal blessing and his adopted daughter, Lina, remains a close friend.

Not bad for a woman who started out helping in the youth club of her Catholic church when her children were small.

"I've tended to fall into things," she laughs. "Because I'm so gullible I ended up leading the youth club. I don't know how or why these things happen to me but they do."

The former Staffordshire Fire Brigade worker trained to be an air traffic controller before being posted to Manchester airport.

She moved on to West Drayton, near Reading, when she was in her 20s and briefly put her career on hold to look after daughters Philippa, now aged 34, and 31-year-old Rebecca.

It was after her casual stint at the youth club that she reassessed matters. Enrolling as a student at the University of Reading, Detta qualified as a youth worker at the age of 30.

"It changed my options and it opened up the world to me," she says. "I had no intentions of changing my career but I'm really delighted I did."

Detta moved into international youth work and began to welcome groups from around the world to England – including Palestinian and Israeli delegates.

"I met a young man called Khaled from Jericho through an international youth exchange I was running about eight or nine years ago," Detta explains.

"He wrote to me after he returned home from England, appealing to me for help and I must admit I thought, 'Well what am I expected to do?'

"His city was under attack and all the children from the surrounding area used to come into his house to hide because it had really thick walls.

"He was only 16 and the letter really touched me. I sent it on to lots of my friends and it ended up sparking off an idea that grew.

"One day me and one of my daughters were having dinner with a Jordanian friend who invited us to go on holiday there, because it's really lovely in the south of Jordan.

"A Lebanese business associate of his argued that we should go to Lebanon instead.

"And because I wanted a biking holiday I dismissed them both because I thought we'd attract too much attention cycling through those countries. Then it hit me. If I could get other women to cycle with me, then it was the perfect way to attract interest in the cause."

So in April 2004, Detta was joined by her daughters and 270 women to cycle 300 kilometres in seven days through Beirut, from the Syrian border into Damascus, out into the Syrian desert to Busra, then over the Jordanian border and into Amman.

Along the way they camped out, stayed in hostels and enjoyed the hospitality of their host countries, helped with the support of the First Ladies.

"Logistically, it was difficult," says Detta. "We stayed in a Bedouin camp and I was worried how we were going to move mattresses on to the next stop, the university in Jordan.

"I didn't know how we were going to work the trucks. But if you can imagine over 200 women in a tent, it was hilarious.

"Now the success is growing. People in the region are beginning to really understand who we are and take us seriously. Every year the bike ride gets bigger and we're joined by both Muslims and Jews.

"It's not just about peace but about the empowerment of women. There's a sense of if we can do it, others can come with us too.

"We ride through the main towns and cities but also some villages, where you would expect people to be more conservative, and hopefully it inspires the women there.

"We've had ladies who have joined us against the wishes of their families who've gone home and their husbands and fathers end up really proud of them. They'd never ridden a bike before in their lives.

"People warned us that in Syria we'd have stones thrown at us and we'd have to be totally covered up, but we were there in our cycle shorts and the men lay flowers in our path.

"I know now that our idea is working because we are getting noticed. But still we need ordinary women from ordinary families to keep up the pressure on politicians. We need to stand up and be counted."

For all her achievements, Detta remains deeply committed to her family, and regularly returns to Stoke to visit them. She says her father Patrick, who passed away nearly six years ago, was and still is her inspiration. Her mother Hilda was a keen cyclist and was a member of the Cyclist Touring Club.

"Most fathers would be a bit wary if their daughter told them that they were going to bike through the Middle East but he was really encouraging," says Detta. "He died three months after that first bike ride.

"I had a strange, very private moment in a church in Syria on the last ride," she continues.

"I walked in, lit a candle for my parents, and burst into floods of tears. I just could not stop crying. I was looking at all these women walking around me – Japanese, American, Spanish and Danish – and I thought, 'Crikey, how did this happen?'

"I cried, not through sadness, but just through wonder. I couldn't quite believe that we'd all come this far."

For information about Follow The Women's 2011 ride, log on to www.this isstaffordshire.co.uk/sentinelle