Severn Freewheelers Emergency Voluntary Service is a

blood bike A blood bike is a specialist motorcycle modified for use as a courier vehicle for the prompt transportation of urgent and emergency medical items; primarily including blood, and also including X-rays, tissue samples, surgical tools, human milk ...

charity based in the Severn Valley in western England. Founded in 2007, it provides a free

motorcycle courier A motorcycle courier, also known as a despatch rider or motorcycle messenger, is a courier using a motorcycle. Motorcycle couriers are common in the major urban centres of Europe, South America (especially Brazil), Asia and North America. ...

service to hospitals in the region, operating a fleet of emergency-equipped motorcycles which are ridden and co-ordinated by volunteers. Severn Freewheelers is a founder-member of the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes (NABB) and co-operates with similar organisations in the area including

Freewheelers EVS Freewheelers Emergency Voluntary Service (EVS) is a blood bike charity based in South West England. Founded in Weston-super-Mare in 1990, it is funded by public donations and staffed by unpaid volunteers. Association with other blood bike cha ...

(Bristol and Somerset), SERV (south England) and Midland Freewheelers (north-west Birmingham).

Operations

Severn Freewheelers works for hospitals in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

and north

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, including

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

. Operations extend into southern

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

. Major hospitals served include Gloucester Royal, Cheltenham General, Hereford County, Worcester Royal, Redditch Alexandra and Great Western, Swindon, with many smaller hospitals also served including Tewkesbury, Moreton-in-Marsh, Cinderford, Stroud, Dursley, Cirencester, Ross-on-Wye, Leominster, Bromyard, Ledbury, Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, Malvern, Tenbury Wells, Evesham, Pershore, Chippenham and Savernake. Operating between 7 pm and 7 am on weekdays and 24 hours at weekends and public holidays, the charity provides a service enabling hospitals to avoid the need to use taxis or commercial couriers, saving the NHS an estimated £150,000 each year across the area. By December 2019, the charity had covered over 1,700,000 miles, had responded to more than 46,000 calls, and was receiving over 500 calls each month. Items carried include samples for pathological or micro-biological analysis, blood and blood products for transfusion, patient notes, drugs, scans and medical equipment. Recent developments include the collection of

human breast milk Breast milk (sometimes spelled as breastmilk) or mother's milk is milk produced by the mammary glands in the breasts of women. Breast milk is the primary source of nutrition for newborn infants, comprising fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and a va ...

from donors’ homes and its transport to human milk banks at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and

. During the coronavirus-19 crisis the charity responded by temporarily extending its service to operate 24/7. In addition, some 80 volunteers were recruited from the general public to make home deliveries of medications from general hospitals in Hereford and Gloucestershire. Nearly 3,000 deliveries had been made as of September 2020.

Fund-raising

In 2011, the charity held its first Prescott Bike Festival at the

Prescott Speed Hill Climb Prescott Speed Hill Climb is a hillclimb in Gloucestershire, England. The course used for most events (the "Long Course") is in length, and the hill record is held by Matthew Ryder who took the outright hill record in a 4.0L Judd V8 powered Go ...

circuit near Bishop's Cleeve in Gloucestershire, which attracted 5,000 visitors. This has since become an annual event. It also mounts displays at local shows such as the Three Counties Show, the Cotswold Show, the Emergency Services Show, and local music festivals, and attends motorcycle safety events such as BikeSafe. Several motorcycling celebrities including racers

Carl Fogarty Carl George Fogarty (born 1 July 1965), often known as Foggy, is an English former motorcycle racer and one of the most successful Superbike World Championship, World Superbike racers of all time. He also holds the third highest number of rac ...

and Jamie Whitham have offered to help support the charity in raising funds to support its work. A new-look website was launched in March 2024.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Severn Freewheelers Blood bikes Charities based in Gloucestershire 2007 establishments in England Organizations established in 2007