NABB

Blood bikes have been established in the UK for more than 40 years. In November 2007 members from Dorset Freewheelers, Freewheelers EVS, SERV and Severn Freewheelers got together in Gloucester to discuss better collaboration between the groups. NABB was established in 2010, but prior to this the different groups cooperated with each other and assisted in the setup of new groups.

In The Beginning

It all began on April 1st, 1969 in Stevenage, when Des Gibbons established a youth community action group named Freewheelers to encourage young bikers to use their riding skills to provide a fast and reliable transport service to local hospitals. This initial group served the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, the Luton and Dunstable Hospital, Hitchin Hospital and maternity unit and two hospitals in Bedford. They carried blood, drugs, plasma, diagnostic specimens and even human spare parts on occasions. Riders also delivered letters to doctors surgeries and collected spare breast milk from nursing mothers to take to the special care baby unit at the local maternity hospital. Unfortunately the Stevenage group, along with Albrighton Freewheelers in Shropshire, are no longer operating. 

Yeovil Freewheelers

Using the Stevenage group as a model, Yeovil Freewheelers was established on December 4th, 1978 by Cecil Turner. The group, which was a youth service associated to the National Association of Youth Clubs, encouraged volunteers under 26 to increase their riding skills at the same time as delivering a valuable service to Yeovil District Hospital. Yeovil are still active today, having celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2008, but are not members of NABB.

SERV

Service by Emergency Rider Volunteers, also known as SERV, was established in Surrey in April 1981. Over the years SERV expanded to cover Sussex, Kent and Essex. In 2007, SERV expanded into Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire. In 2010/2011, SERV will expand into Hampshire and then Wiltshire. In some of the counties where SERV operate, members use their own bikes and pay for their own fuel. Elsewhere the charity funds the use of its own specially adapted motorcycles for active duty and for fund raising and publicity purposes. SERV also have a Volvo V70 estate car used for bulk transportation of blood.

Freewheelers EVS

Freewheelers Emergency Voluntary Service was established in Weston-super-Mare in April 1990 by Paul Chadwick, and began operation early in 1991. The group, which has always owned and operated its own bikes, expanded to use two bikes covering the whole of Somerset and Bristol. In 2005 it added another bike to its fleet to cover Bath and the west of Wiltshire. Over the years it has had a number of different motorcycles including a Honda CX500, Yamaha Diversion, Honda Deauville, BMW K75, Honda Pan-European ST1100 and most recently the Honda Pan-European ST1300, Yamaha FJR1300 and BMW R1200RT.

Dorset Freewheelers

Dorset Freewheelers began their service in February 2007, initially covering hospitals in Bournemouth and Poole. They have recently expanded to cover the rest of Dorset and frequently make trips as far afield as Southampton and Portsmouth. Dorset Freewheelers own a Honda Pan-European ST1100 and a Honda Deauville.

Severn Freewheelers

Severn Freewheelers was established in March 2007, initially covering Cheltenham and Gloucester. Demand for their service was high resulting in a rapid expansion to cover Herefordshire, Worcestershire and North Wiltshire. In the first nine months following their launch, Severn Freewheelers volunteers took 830 calls and covered nearly 50,000 miles. Severn Freewheelers own three BMW R1200RT bikes, and now do over 2,000 calls each year. 

Bloodfast

Bloodfast was established in June 2007 by John Spinks, covering Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. BloodFast is a company that does commercial courier work for the hospitals in the daytime, but uses volunteers to provide a free-of-charge service in the evenings and at weekends. Income from the commercial activities funds the free-of-charge work. In the past year they have saved local health trusts around £175,000. BloodFast operates two motorcycles, and five cars - all equipped with blue lights and sirens.

White Knights EVS

White Knights EVS is based in North,West and South Yorkshire. It was started by recovering cancer patient Vic Siswick, who wanted to give something back to the hospitals that provided his life-saving treatment. White Knights EVS has been operational since mid-2008 and operate a fleet of Honda Pan-European ST1100 bikes.

Moonrakers EVS

Moonrakers EVS are currently in the process of establishing a service in Wiltshire, with the aim of expanding into Berkshire and Hampshire in the future. After identifying a gap in the coverage area of the existing 'blood bike' organisations, a group of enthusiastic motorcyclists centred around Salisbury began the process of setting up Moonrakers EVS. In 2010 a decision was made to integrate the group's operations into SERV, which will make administration much easier as the group will be able to leverage the years of experience that SERV has in setting up and operating in new counties. 

Midland Freewheelers

Midland Freewheelers are in the process of establishing a service in the West Midlands. They commenced operations on July 1st, 2010, operating from Wolverhampton. They have plans to expand to hospitals in Birmingham and the surrounding areas.

Devon Freewheelers

In early 2010, Daniel Lavery started the process of forming a new group to cover Devon. As of July 2010 the group has one motorcycle, a Honda ST1100 Pan-European which the group will use for fundraising purposes. The group's first aim is to raise their first £5,000 which will allow them to register with the Charity Commission.