NABB

Honda (UK) is delighted to announce the acclaimed 'blood runners' charity, SERV (Service by Emergency Rider Volunteers), has been nominated by staff as the company's supported charity for the year.

SERV, a member of NABB (Nationwide Association of Blood Bikers), is a charity that transports blood, plasma, platelets, samples, vaccines and other urgently required medical items to hospitals completely free of charge. It is run by dedicated volunteers who receive no financial compensation for their time or costs, allowing the NHS to divert funds to where they are needed most.

Honda (UK)'s support includes a financial donation as well as ongoing fundraising activities being organised internally with Honda employees undertaking their own initiatives which are fund-matched by Honda (UK). SERV will be promoting Honda and its products to its dedicated and loyal two-wheel volunteers, whilst also benefitting from increased exposure and awareness by the charity being showcased at a number of Honda's activities in the coming months, including a presence on Honda's stand at the forthcoming Motorcycle Live event at the NEC from 19-27 November.

The association with SERV is also timely, as it coincides with the recent launch of the latest mini-film in Honda's Channel 4 documentary sponsorship 'idents' running until the end of October, now focusing on one SERV volunteer, Roger, who delivers vital blood supplies to hospitals in his local area.

This mini-documentary is the third in a series of short feature films which explore and celebrate real-life people who use their Honda motorbikes, cars, ATVs, lawn mowers, generators and marine engines in unusual and extraordinary ways. The first featured Philippa, an alpaca breeder in Oxfordshire, who tends to the animals on her farm using her trusty Honda ATV. The second starred Ben, a night fisherman from Brixham Harbour in Devon who takes his boat, powered by two Honda BF135 marine engines, out at night to catch fish in the dark.

This latest short film features a gentleman called Roger who volunteers for SERV with his trusty ST1300 Pan European motorcycle. Roger voluntarily dedicates his evenings to transporting blood from central blood banks to hospitals across his local area in the home counties on his beloved Pan-European. He has ridden Hondas since he was 16 years old and he now relies on his Pan-European to regularly ride 100 mile journeys in the middle of the night. To view the full two-minute version of the mini-documentary visit www.honda.co.uk/bloodbike.

Tim Goodman, Chairman of SERV, commented, "We have some great Honda motorcycles on the SERV fleet and it is also the most popular choice of bike manufacturer amongst our volunteer blood runners who use their own machines as well" they have time and again proved to be an ideal equipment partner. We are absolutely delighted that Honda's staff have chosen SERV as their nominated charity. We believe the opportunity of a partnership with the Honda brand will provide enhanced recognition for SERV, and encourage a better public understanding of the ways in which socially caring businesses and not for profit organisations can work together to benefit the community at large."

Steve Martindale, Honda (UK) Motorcycles General Manager said, "SERV is a highly regarded charitable organisation and the work they do, coupled with the dedication and passion of their volunteer riders, is truly humbling and worthy of total support. There were a number of motorcycling related charities we identified but our staff voted unanimously to support SERV, mainly because it is a service which can potentially benefit everyone and anyone, and not just those within the motorcycling industry or community, and Honda and two-wheels being 'out there' in local communities is something we all at Honda feel strongly about."

On Thursday June 16th, riders from Devon Freewheelers, Freewheelers EVS, SERV, and NW Blood Bikes all worked together to get two hospitals out of a difficult situation. An equipment failure at the Oxford Milk Bank  meant that stocks of human breast milk, used to feed very premature and sometimes very sick babies, were running critically low.

Some milk was available in Exeter - 160 miles away - so the milk bank called on the services of NABB members. Devon Freewheelers picked up the two boxes of frozen breast milk and put them onto the back of their bike and rode up the M5 to the Somerset border, where they handed over to Freewheelers EVS. They in turn rode up to Swindon where they met with SERV who took the much needed milk up to Oxford. The transfer from Exeter to Oxford was swift, safe and fuss-free.

Earlier that same day, the neonatal intensive care unit at Bristol's Southmead Hospital had run out of breast milk. The hospital would normally source supplies from Oxford, so instead had to look elsewhere. That is where NW Blood Bikes stepped in and collected a box of frozen breast milk from the Countess Hospital in Chester, and rode it down to Redditch, close to the M5/M42 junction, where it was handed over to a Freewheelers EVS rider to complete the 175 mile journey from Chester to Bristol.

These two separate transfers of frozen human breast milk in one day, both of which were done completely free of charge, are a perfect example of how NABB brings together the different blood bike group across the UK. 

In December, Geoff Brown from Severn Freewheelers and Mel Rowbottom from Freewheelers EVS were the stars of Emergency Bikers, a TV series on Channel Five. The programme featured Mel picking up equipment from the maternity hospital in Bristol, before heading north to meet up with Geoff who was bringing pathology samples down the M5 from Gloucestershire for delivery to Frenchay Hospital.

One outcome of the programme was a massive jump of interest in blood bikes. Each NABB member charity received several enquiries - over 100 in the first weekend - from prospective volunteers or people interested in starting a new group. If you want to know more about blood bikes in the UK, then please get in touch. 

You can watch the whole episode on Channel Five's Demand Five catchup service - our bit is 30 minutes into the programme.

We have created a small but perfectly formed range of clothing utilising the Blood Runners trademark. We've kicked off with a T-Shirt and a Hoodie.

We've teamed up with Red Torpeo (www.redtorpedo.co.uk) who have been a great help on setting all this up and allowing all the profits to go to NABB. Huge thank you to the boys (and girls) at Red Torpedo. They also enlisted the help of Guy Martin to help promote our gear on Face Book.

Go take a look!

It's NABB's second public outing!

Following on from the success of our attending Motorcycle Live, we just had to come to MVN's show in London.

We'll have a fully equipped Blood Bike there; advice on how to volunteer with your regional group; advice on how to set up a new group and the opportunity to find out more about the very exciting Prescott Bike Festival - plus a few surprises.

Come and see us please.

July 15th, 2010

On Thursday July 1st, Midland Freewheelers launched their service in Wolverhampton. In contrast to the older groups, some of whom only received a handful of calls in their first year, Midland Freewheelers received a similar number in their first few days. 

On the day of launch they made two urgent deliveries of blood samples from the Heart & Lung Critical Care Unit at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital to the Poisons Unit at City Hospital in Birmingham. The first call was received just one hour after going live. The second was received at midnight and emphasises that the charity's service is available right through the night and 24 hours at weekends. Duty rider John Gaunt, who is the charity's secretary, got caught in heavy rain which blocked the M6 motorway forcing him to take an alternative route. Luckily he got to dry out as there were no calls on Friday. On Saturday the group made an urgent delivery of insulin to a nursing home in Oaken, and then transported blood samples from the Walsall Dialysis Unit to the Microbiology laboratory at New Cross. A new rider took over from John on Sunday and transported patient notes from West Park Hospital in Wolverhampton to New Cross, followed by medication that was taken to the home of a patient discharged from New Cross. 

In the coming months the charity will expand its operations into Birmingham, recruiting new volunteers and adding new motorcycles to the fleet. If you can help Midland Freewheelers in any way, please don't hesitate to get in touch. 

July 8th, 2010

On Sunday April 10th, 2011, Severn Freewheelers will host an exciting new event - The Prescott Bike Festival - which will be held at the Prescott Hill Climb track, located on the edge of the Cotswolds escarpment near Cheltenham. The festival will be Severn Freewheelers' main fundraising event of 2011. It will allow attendees to "Run The Hill" on their own motorcycles and watch demonstration runs by professional riders, including one on Loris Capirossi's MotoGP Ducati GP5. The event will be supported by bike manufacturers and local dealers, who will be offering test rides, as well as a large number of trade stands, a wall of death display, a Fomula 1 simulator, a have-a-go Trials area, stunt riders and the MCN Babes. Other NABB blood bike groups will also attend to support Severn Freewheelers and to provide information to people from outside the group's area. It promises to be a fun filled day.

Find out more at www.prescottbikefestival.co.uk and visit the festival's Facebook page.

July 1st, 2010

The pupils of All Hallows Preparatory School in Somerset have just presented a new BMW R1200RT blood bike to Freewheelers EVS. The bike was paid for by a number of fundraising activities at the school, including a sponsored cycle ride from John O'Groats to Lands End undertaken by two parents – Mike Burns and Andrew Jolliffe. The total raised by the school was close to £14,000.

A competition was held for the pupils to name the bike. The winning name was "The Flying Crane", reflecting the school's crane logo. It will now be displayed proudly on the bike for all to see. The competition winner removed the covers to unveil the bike and handed over the keys to the grateful Freewheelers EVS volunteers.

The Flying Crane immediately went on duty in the Bath area. During the coming months, Freewheelers EVS will provide the school's pupils with a log of the bike's activities so that they can track how many times it has been used, where it has been, how far it has travelled and what sort of cargoes it has carried. There will also be a "spot the blood bike" competition. Pupils who see The Flying Crane on duty will be able to submit details of when and where they saw it and, subject to verification, will win a prize from Freewheelers.

More photographs of the presentation ceremony can bee seen in the Freewheelers EVS photo gallery.