Freewheelers EVS

{{Infobox organization

| name = Freewheelers EVS

| logo = Freewheelers EVS Logo.svg

| logo_size = 200px

| founded_date = April 1990{{cite web | url=http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithoutPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1001067&SubsidiaryNumber=0 | title= Charity Framework | publisher= Charity Commission | accessdate= 24 January 2019}}

| registration_id = [https://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithoutPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1001067 1001067]

| founder =

| location = South West England

| origins =

| key_people =

| area_served = Somerset, Bristol, Bath, West Wiltshire, South Gloucestershire

| product =

| services = NHS motorcycle courier

| method =

| revenue = £260,627 (year ending 31 March 2020)

| endowment =

| num_volunteers = 184 (May 2025)

| num_employees =

| num_members =

| owner =

| homepage = {{Official URL}}

| dissolved =

| footnotes =

}}

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 charities

Freewheelers EVS are a founding member of the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes (NABB), which acts as an umbrella charity for all blood bike charities.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bloodbikes.org.uk/about-us/|title=About NABB|date=2016-09-09|website=Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-01-25|archive-date=25 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125183335/http://www.bloodbikes.org.uk/about-us/|url-status=dead}} It inspired the foundation of a new charity, White Knights EVS in West Yorkshire.{{cite news | url= http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2008/02/07/emergency-dispatch-86081-20444638/ | title= Emergency Dispatch! | publisher= The Huddersfield Daily Examiner | date= 7 February 2008 | first= David | last= Himelfield | accessdate= 17 January 2009 | archive-date= 22 February 2012 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120222034318/http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2008/02/07/emergency-dispatch-86081-20444638/ | url-status= live }} Neighbouring charities include Severn Freewheelers,{{cite web | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/gloucestershire/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8232000/8232118.stm | publisher= BBC Gloucestershire | date= 2 September 2009 | title= Charity works nights for the NHS | accessdate= 7 July 2010 | archive-date= 4 March 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093237/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/gloucestershire/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8232000/8232118.stm | url-status= live }}

SERV, and Yeovil Freewheelers, which was founded in 1978.{{cite web | url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2008/09/18/yeovil_freewheelers_feature.shtml | publisher= BBC Somerset | title= Yeovil Freewheelers celebreate 30 years of saving lives | first= Nigel | last= Machin | date= September 2008 | accessdate= 7 July 2010 | archive-date= 25 January 2019 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190125131547/http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2008/09/18/yeovil_freewheelers_feature.shtml | url-status= live }}

Operations

File:Freewheelers EVS members.jpg

The charity operates in Somerset, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and western parts of Wiltshire.{{cite web | url= http://www.nbt.nhs.uk/media/Releases/2006/October/161006.htm | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090706181319/http://www.nbt.nhs.uk/media/Releases/2006/October/161006.htm | url-status= dead | archive-date= 6 July 2009 | title= Freewheelers hoping for a helping hand this November | date= 16 October 2006 | publisher= North Bristol NHS Trust | accessdate= 1 Feb 2008 }}

It is used by NHS in the area, including major hospitals such as Bristol Royal Infirmary, Southmead, Weston General, the RUH in Bath, and Musgrove Park in Taunton. Minor injuries units, GP surgeries, care homes, hospices and patients' home addresses make up the other destinations often visited.

= Coordinator and riders =

Freewheelers operates from 19:00 to 07:00 during the week and 24 hours at weekends and public holidays. On any given shift there is one coordinator and five riders on duty. The riders are spread across the area of operation. In general one is in the vicinity of Bath, one in the vicinity of Bristol and one in the vicinity of Taunton. The fourth rider can be used anywhere across the whole area to assist when particularly busy or if one of the riders is in need of a break. A fifth rider exchanges transfusion blood with the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and Great Western Air Ambulance air bases. All the riders hold an advanced motorcycling qualification,{{cite journal | last = Bolton | first = Adam | date = August 2007 | title = Blood Brothers | journal = Motorcycle Sport & Leisure | pages = 46–50 | publisher = Mortons Media Group Ltd | issn = 1478-839X | url = http://www.freewheelers.org.uk/docs/MSL-Aug2007.pdf | access-date = 4 February 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080828033953/http://www.freewheelers.org.uk/docs/MSL-Aug2007.pdf | archive-date = 28 August 2008 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }} such as an IAM RoadSmart or RoSPA test pass. There is also a requirement to retake this assessment every three years to maintain a high standard of riding. This partly due to insurance purposes but also tied into the aim of the charity to encourage safe riding and promote a positive image of motorcycling.

= Items carried =

The charity's volunteers transport blood for transfusion, tissue samples for pathological or microbiological analysis, drugs, patient notes, medical images and medical devices. It has also carried more unusual items such as antivenom and artificial limbs.{{cite news | url= http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Bristol-FreeWheelers-blood-flowing/article-1256024-detail/article.html | newspaper= Bristol Evening Post | title= Bristol FreeWheelers keep the blood flowing | date= 15 August 2009 | accessdate= 24 October 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Since 2010, Freewheelers has also been transporting human breast milk to and from the breast milk bank at Southmead Hospital.{{cite web | url= http://www.nbt.nhs.uk/news__media/latest_news/milk_bank_up_and_running.aspx | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111108213311/http://www.nbt.nhs.uk/news__media/latest_news/milk_bank_up_and_running.aspx | url-status= dead | archive-date= 8 November 2011 | publisher= North Bristol NHS Trust | title= South West's first milk bank up and running | accessdate= 26 February 2012 }}{{cite news | url = http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Hospital-s-new-service-aims-help-mums-babies-best/story-13731075-detail/story.html | title = Hospital's new service aims to help mums give babies best start | newspaper = Bristol Evening Post | date = 2 November 2011 | accessdate = 26 February 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111104150157/http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Hospital-s-new-service-aims-help-mums-babies-best/story-13731075-detail/story.html | archive-date = 4 November 2011 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }}

= Air ambulance =

{{As of|2015}}, EVS participated in a daily delivery of type O negative blood to Wiltshire Air Ambulance and Great Western Air Ambulance, with the latter also taking delivery of fresh frozen plasma.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/features/meet-the-freewheelers-the-biker-group-and-right-hand-to-the-gwaac/|title=Meet the Freewheelers|date=4 July 2018|access-date=25 January 2019|archive-date=25 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125183326/https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/features/meet-the-freewheelers-the-biker-group-and-right-hand-to-the-gwaac/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url = https://greatwesternairambulance.com/blood-bike-awareness-day-2018/|title = Blood Bike Awareness Day 2018|date = 17 August 2018|access-date = 24 January 2019|archive-date = 12 July 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190712123211/https://greatwesternairambulance.com/blood-bike-awareness-day-2018/|url-status = live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbt.nhs.uk/severn-major-trauma/what-major-trauma|title=SMTN Training and Education | North Bristol NHS Trust|access-date=24 January 2019|archive-date=24 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124152239/https://www.nbt.nhs.uk/severn-major-trauma/what-major-trauma|url-status=dead}}{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1056/NEJMoa1802345|title = Prehospital Plasma during Air Medical Transport in Trauma Patients at Risk for Hemorrhagic Shock|journal = New England Journal of Medicine|volume = 379|issue = 4|pages = 315–326|year = 2018|last1 = Sperry|first1 = Jason L.|last2 = Guyette|first2 = Francis X.|last3 = Brown|first3 = Joshua B.|last4 = Yazer|first4 = Mark H.|last5 = Triulzi|first5 = Darrell J.|last6 = Early-Young|first6 = Barbara J.|last7 = Adams|first7 = Peter W.|last8 = Daley|first8 = Brian J.|last9 = Miller|first9 = Richard S.|last10 = Harbrecht|first10 = Brian G.|last11 = Claridge|first11 = Jeffrey A.|last12 = Phelan|first12 = Herb A.|last13 = Witham|first13 = William R.|last14 = Putnam|first14 = A. Tyler|last15 = Duane|first15 = Therese M.|last16 = Alarcon|first16 = Louis H.|last17 = Callaway|first17 = Clifton W.|last18 = Zuckerbraun|first18 = Brian S.|last19 = Neal|first19 = Matthew D.|last20 = Rosengart|first20 = Matthew R.|last21 = Forsythe|first21 = Raquel M.|last22 = Billiar|first22 = Timothy R.|last23 = Yealy|first23 = Donald M.|last24 = Peitzman|first24 = Andrew B.|last25 = Zenati|first25 = Mazen S.|pmid = 30044935|doi-access = free}}

=Beyond the area=

If jobs require transport beyond the Freewheelers EVS area of operation, there is coordination with neighbouring blood bike charities to relay items and pass them on at pre-arranged handover locations. This goes for shipments leaving the area, such consignments of breast milk, or inbound items destined for the charity's area. Samples often require transport to the NHS Blood and Transplant centre at Filton.{{cite news |title=The future of blood |url=https://www.ibms.org/includes/act_download.php?download=pdf/2009-mar-Blood.pdf |accessdate=19 August 2016 |work=The Biomedical Scientist |date=March 2009 |page=218 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820184123/https://www.ibms.org/includes/act_download.php?download=pdf%2F2009-mar-Blood.pdf |archive-date=20 August 2016 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title=History |url=http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/who-we-are/history/ |website=NHS Blood and Transplant |accessdate=19 August 2016 |archive-date=14 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814074025/http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/who-we-are/history/ |url-status=live }} The site also houses the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory (IBGRL), which performs rare blood identification.{{cite news |last1=Bailey |first1=Penny |title=The man with the golden blood |url=http://mosaicscience.com/story/man-golden-blood |date=21 October 2014 |work=Mosaic |accessdate=19 August 2016 |archive-date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821010923/http://mosaicscience.com/story/man-golden-blood |url-status=dead }}

Motorcycles

File:FJR1300 emergency blood.jpg

File:St1300-emergency.jpg previously operated by Freewheelers EVS ]]

Freewheelers owns and operates a fleet of blood bike liveried Yamaha FJR1300, BMW R1200RT-P and BMW F800GT motorcycles fitted with blue lights and sirens. Previously ex-police motorcycles were used, such as the Honda ST Pan-European series.

The latest Yamaha FJR1300 motorcycles are the first to be purpose-built for Blood Bike duties through an arrangement between NABB and Yamaha{{Cite web|url=http://www.bloodbikes.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Nationwide-Association-of-Blood-Bikes-2016-Newsletter.pdf|title=NABB 2017 News Letter|last=|first=|date=|website=|access-date=|archive-date=26 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126113935/http://www.bloodbikes.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Nationwide-Association-of-Blood-Bikes-2016-Newsletter.pdf|url-status=dead}} with equipment designed and fitted by Woodway Engineering.{{Cite web|url=https://www.woodwayengineering.co.uk/woodway-engineering-news/case-studies/blood-bikes|title=Case Study: Midland Freewheelers' blood bikes|last=Ltd|first=Jamie Allsop, Creare Communications|website=News & Updates|language=en|access-date=2019-01-25|archive-date=25 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125131004/https://www.woodwayengineering.co.uk/woodway-engineering-news/case-studies/blood-bikes|url-status=dead}}

Funding

Freewheelers EVS is 100% funded by public donations. Money is raised through a variety of avenues with events highlighted on the website.{{Cite web|url=https://www.freewheelers.org.uk/freewheeler-events/|title=Freewheeler Events – Freewheelers EVS|access-date=24 January 2019|archive-date=24 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124152224/https://www.freewheelers.org.uk/freewheeler-events/|url-status=dead}}{{Better source needed|date=January 2019}} These events range from bucket collections at supermarkets to giving talks to local groups.

In 2010, the pupils of All Hallows Preparatory School near Shepton Mallet staged a number of fundraising events, including a sponsored bicycle ride from John o' Groats to Land's End by two parents,{{cite news | url= http://www.thisisdorset.co.uk/news/article-2056414-detail/article.html | title= All Hallows fundraising takes shape for Freewheelers | date= 23 April 2010 | newspaper= This Is Dorset | accessdate= 24 October 2010 | archive-date= 5 May 2013 | archive-url= https://archive.today/20130505124905/http://www.thisisdorset.co.uk/news/article-2056414-detail/article.html | url-status= live }} to buy a new BMW R1200RT motorcycle, which was presented to Freewheelers on 1 July 2010.{{cite news | url= http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Dads-big-adventure-buys-charity-bike/article-2393785-detail/article.html | archive-url= https://archive.today/20130505123215/http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Dads-big-adventure-buys-charity-bike/article-2393785-detail/article.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= 5 May 2013 | title= Dads' big adventure buys charity a bike | date= 8 July 2010 | newspaper= Mid Somerset Series | accessdate= 24 October 2010 }}

One of the pupils won a competition to name the new bike "The Flying Crane"—the school's logo is a Crane.

Accolades

On 2 June 2008, Freewheelers EVS was awarded the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service,{{cite web | url= http://www.queensawardvoluntary.gov.uk/winners/southwest08.html | title= 2008 Winners, South West | work= The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service | publisher= The Cabinet Office | accessdate= 3 June 2008 | archive-url= http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090107233545/http%3A//www.queensawardvoluntary.gov.uk/winners/southwest08.html | archive-date= 7 January 2009 | url-status= dead | df= dmy-all }}{{cite news | url= http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144936&command=displayContent&sourceNode=144919&contentPK=20772752 | publisher= Bristol Evening Post | title= BLOOD BIKERS GET NOD FROM QUEEN | date= 3 June 2008 | accessdate= 3 June 2008 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

the highest award that can be given to a voluntary organisation in the United Kingdom and equivalent to an MBE.{{cite news | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7431398.stm | title= Top award for volunteer couriers | publisher= BBC News | date= 2 June 2008 | accessdate= 3 June 2008 | archive-date= 3 August 2017 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170803102826/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7431398.stm | url-status= live }}

In July 2008, Freewheelers EVS was awarded the Chair's Community Award of 2008/09 by the Chair of Bath and North East Somerset Council, Councillor David Bellotti at the Guildhall in Bath.{{cite web| url=http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/media/news/2008/July/Pages/Chairmancongratulatesunsungheroeswhohelptransportbloodtoinjuredpatients.aspx| title=Chairman congratulates 'unsung heroes' who help transport blood to injured patients| date=24 July 2008| work=Press Release| publisher=Bath and North East Somerset Council| accessdate=10 November 2010}}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

In March 2016, Freewheelers EVS won the "Voluntary and Community Sector Team of the Year" category in the Bristol Post Health and Care Awards.{{cite web | last=Wallis | first=Ben | title=Health care heroes honoured in Bristol Health and Care Awards | website=Bristol Health Partners | date=2016-03-15 | url=https://www.bristolhealthpartners.org.uk/news/health-care-heroes-honoured-in-bristol-health-and-care-awards/ | access-date=2024-07-04}}

In The People's Projects awards 2017, West Country East, Freewheelers EVS was voted one of the winners and awarded £30,000 of lottery funds to purchase two new FJR1300 motorcycles.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk/projects/2017/view/wheels-to-save-lives|title=Wheels to save lives - West Country East|access-date=25 January 2019|archive-date=25 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125183120/https://www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk/projects/2017/view/wheels-to-save-lives|url-status=live}}