Following on from the huge success of last year’s event, the Jeff Mountjoy Big Ride Out is now only weeks away – and organisers are calling for support to help raise much needed funds for both FreewheelersEVS and Dorothy House.

The invaluable work that Dorothy House carry out is well known, providing care for those with terminal cancer and supporting their families. What is not so well known, is the work that the local charity Freewheelers carry out, providing invaluable support for the NHS.

These volunteer bikers provide an out-of-hours courier service to not only local hospitals, but also hospices, residential and care homes and any non-profit health organisation can use Freewheelers within the Somerset and South Gloucestershire area.

Run entirely by volunteers, Freewheelers provide this service free of charge to the NHS. No one in the charity is paid – from the Chairman to the bucket collectors, every penny raised is spent on keeping the fleet of nine bikes on the road. Covering an estimated 150,000 miles and completing 4,974 jobs in 2016, the never-ending fundraising effort continues.

Commonly known as Blood bikes, the general misconception is that volunteers only transport blood. The reality is that blood carrying is only part of what the charity does, with nearly half of what is carried being samples to and from pathology labs. Anything that fits on a bike will be moved – X-rays, patient notes, medical equipment, medication and breast milk will all be conveyed by a Blood Bike. Not only moving items between hospitals, but anywhere that it needs to go. The team are often relaying breast milk from donors’ private addresses to the local bank, to another private address or to birthing units around the area, with Paulton and Frome being regular drops and both birthing units visited often by volunteers.

Freewheelers work in close support with the Great Western Air Ambulance and Wiltshire Air Ambulance, with a daily supply of two units of whole blood. This enables the critical care paramedics to administer pre-hospital blood, often at the roadside, increasing survival rates enormously. It is said that of those who survive to reach a major trauma centre, be it Southmead, Musgrove or Southampton; survival rates have increased by 80%. Unused blood is returned to Southmead and broken down to produce red and white blood cells, plasma and platelets.

Working closely with other blood bike groups around the country, it is not uncommon for a sample to be collected from Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and relayed through two other blood bike groups, collected by a Freewheeler at Swindon and delivered to the National Transfusion Centre in Filton. The results are then emailed back to the hospital, so the consultants and surgeons know what they are dealing with.

Another area in which Freewheelers are seeing an increase in traffic is the delivery of medication to private addresses. This is often palliative care for those who do not wish to spend their final days in hospital or a hospice. With increasing pressure on the NHS, Freewheelers expect this part of the service to increase in the future.

The support that the JMBRO team have shown Freewheelers and Dorothy House in the past has been outstanding and this year’s event promises to be the biggest so far. It takes place on Saturday, 6th May at Paulton Rovers FC. Kicking off at 11 a.m., there will be plenty to entertain all the family, with games, stalls and food available. As well as other biking experts, Freewheelers will be at the event for those who would like to find out more or volunteer.

The main event, the Ride-Out, takes place at 1 p.m., with a sixty-mile trundle over the Mendips, and biker entry including free access to the evening function, featuring live music from Truth and the Happy Endings. Tickets for the evening for those not taking part in the ride are available from the bar at Paulton Rovers and The Lamb Inn, Paulton. Any bikers interested in joining what should be a huge convoy should also visit these venues or go online to: http://www.facebook.com/jmbro4 Last year’s event saw a large crowd from Paulton come out to wave the many bikers off, and it is hoped it will be just as well supported this year.