‘Vital Service’ helping the NHS

out of Yeovil and Dorchester, with Taunton coming into operation shortly, and delivers in excess of 3,500 packages a year. Riding in excess of 132,000 miles a year, (roughly 5.5 times around the world), many of these are ‘category 1’ life-saving deliveries, making the blood bikes and their riders an invaluable, free of charge, emergency medical motorcycle courier service for the NHS. And because the service is a charity organisation, run entirely by volunteers, it is saving the NHS hundreds of thousands of pounds every year.

As a charity, YFW Freewheelers rely entirely on donations from the public and local businesses to keep them on the road.

MANY drivers will have seen the brightly liveried blood bikes out and about on the roads of Dorset and Somerset. The bikes are often referred to as ‘the 4th emergency service’. These unsung heroes are your local Blood Bike team, travelling the highways and byways of Dorset and Somerset delivering much needed - and often time critical - supplies of blood, platelets, tissue samples, medication, baby milk, X-rays, CT scans, medical equipment and essential documentation to countless NHS organisations and patients across both counties, and beyond.

The team, officially called YFW Freewheelers, operates

As the recent Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, Mrs Annie Maw said, ‘Blood Bikes provide a vital service and the bikers selflessly give of their free time and riding skills in all weathers to save lives. I encourage all to support them in all their endeavours’

Such recognition is entirely justified, but our volunteers are a modest lot. They give their time freely, their knowledge generously and their enthusiasm without restraint. If this sounds like you, and you have some spare time and would like to find a way to use it well, why not give YFW Freewheelers a call on 0300 030 1180 or visit www.yfwfreewheelers.org.