So said an ex critical care nurse to Simon Grover of Severn Freewheelers after his presentation at the Gloucestershire Freemasons Charity Day recently.
Severn Freewheelers are a group of 150 volunteers who act as an out of hours courier service for the NHS. They responded to 7500 requests from the NHS Trusts that they serve in 2023, travelling 221,000 miles on 9 marked motorcycles and four cars. They are one of a national network of 37 groups who can relay life saving drugs, samples and essentials such as HDM (human donated milk ), sometimes from one end of the country to the other. Despite their nickname of ‘blood bikes’ they seldom carry blood and never carry organs. The group is estimated to save the NHS £350,000 per year but the £80,000 annual cost of running Severn Freewheelers is funded entirely by charitable donations.
