South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

I'm Mike, I live in Cheddar and I ride a BMW R1150GS - which is the only BMW not ridden by typical BMW riders i.e. I don't have a pipe, I don't wear slippers, I don't have a beard and I do nod/wave/talk to other bikers. Living in Cheddar is a hoot because I have the Gorge and all those lovely twisty bends right on my doorstep. I'm an all-weather biker so my GS is rusted to hell, but it still corners like a good un up and down the gorge

I'm also the webmaster for Freewheelers EVS - the blood bike charity based in Somerset/Bristol/Bath. We are a group of volunteer bikers who provide an out-of-hours emegergency courier service to local hospitals carrying blood, x-rays, samples, notes, drugs etc on a fleet of 4 x Pan Europeans with blue lights and sirens. We are always on the lookout for new riders so if you have IAM/RoSAP pass and can spare the time we would love to hear from you.
http://www.freewheelers.org.uk

Mike

lol. nice to have u on board dude

hi mate! i applied to freewheelers at a show, but was told i am too young
very worthy cause, and i think you do an excellent job

welcome 2 the site mate ;)

Hi mate - welcome to the site...

the freewheelers stuff sounds good but i am not sure that they would have me...

Hiya

A warm welcome to the forum

Hello and welcome to the mad house

Welcome to the site mate.

Welcome mate, good to see someone doing something for a worthy charity too!

Hello and welcome mate

welcome to the site

Welcome to the site and well done for the volunteer stuff

Welcome to the site Mike.

Good work on the charity stuff, but surely the NHS should be performing that role?
Part of my brother's job is transporting organs and blood all over Devon & Cornwall, he's on call at all hours to respond to emergencies.
If these 2 counties can do it within the NHS why can't others?

clunk wrote:Good work on the charity stuff, but surely the NHS should be performing that role?
Part of my brother's job is transporting organs and blood all over Devon & Cornwall, he's on call at all hours to respond to emergencies.
If these 2 counties can do it within the NHS why can't others?

I agree that the NHS should provide the role. However, how much tax do you want to pay?

Most other hospitals use taxis for the journeys we provide free-of-charge. This would cost the NHS around £60K/year in Somerset/Bristol/Bath. But taxis can't get through traffic and don't have blue lights. Plus you'd never get a taxi at 11 on a Friday evening! If they were instead to provide their own fleet of bikes to match our own with paid staff then the cost would be closer to £350K.

We provide the service from an income of around £20K/year which pays for a new bike to replace one of the four and all tyres/fuel/insurance/maintenance.

To be honest I'm quite happy to volunteer to do this especially as we are saving the NHS - and therefore our own pockets as tax payers - up to £350,000 per year. Plus, it's bloody good fun riding for Freewheelers!

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome. See you on the road sometime.

Mike

Hiya Mike, welcome to the SWB