Volunteer bikers win royal honour (From Wiltshire Times)

Volunteer bikers win royal honour

2:04pm Tuesday 3rd June 2008

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LOCAL volunteer bikers have spoken of their pride after an emergency courier charity received the Royal seal of approval yesterday.

Rob Jones, 41, and Bill Ferrol, 53, are two of Wiltshire's volunteers in the Freewheelers Emergency Voluntary Services charity, also known as the blood bikes'.

The organisation, formed in 1991, provides an out-of-hours courier service to hospitals in the West of England.

The volunteers use motorcycles equipped with blue lights and sirens to transport blood, blood and tissue samples, drugs, x-rays, patient notes and other medical items between hospitals from 7pm to 7am in the week and 24-hours a day at weekends and Bank Holidays.

The service is provided free of charge to the NHS.

On Monday, it was awarded The Queens Award for Voluntary Service in recognition of the significant work done by its unsung heroes' in their community.

Mr Jones, of Gorse Place, Corsham, has been a volunteer for about eight months.

He said: "It's great that the charity has been recognised in this way. It's a big boost to all us volunteers. Everyone involved should be very proud."

Mr Ferrol, an engineering manager who commutes to London for work, said he wanted to help the NHS "rather than just complain about it".

He added: "I am the type of person who cannot just sit back and complain about the problems relating to the NHS.

"We are very good in the UK at complaining rather than doing something about it. I wanted to put my biking skills to good use."

Mr Ferrol, from Yewstock Crescent West, Chippenham, has been a volunteer for more than two years and in that time has had three emergency call-outs, on top of the routine jobs.

He said: "It's fantastic to win this award but in truth I'd rather the charity had the money to keep the bikes on the road. The charity fundraisers do a great job but they are under constant pressure, especially at the moment with the high fuel prices."

The service, which saves the NHS at least £100,000 each year, benefits thousands of patients and last year Freewheelers EVS made about 2,000 deliveries, covering 85,000 miles.

In total, Freewheelers EVS has about 60 volunteers. These include riders, all of who hold an advanced motorcycling qualification, co-oordinators who field telephone requests for assistance from hospitals and dispatch the appropriate rider, and fundraisers who help to raise the £20,000 plus needed each year to buy and operate its fleet of motorcycles.

Freewheelers EVS has three motorcycles on duty each day, all of which are specially adapted Honda ST1300 Pan-European models.

The charity is constantly seeking new sources of funding and sponsorship, and new volunteers are always welcomed by the charity to cover all roles. New riders are assessed, then given extra training by the charity before being placed on a rota.

Occasionally the charity is called on to transport less common items such as rabies vaccine, a severed finger for microsurgery and even a patient's false leg.

For more information visit www.freewheelers.org.uk

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