Freewheelers EVS
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Freewheelers EVS | |
 |
|
| Type | Registered charity |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 1991 |
| Area served | Somerset, Bristol, Bath |
| Focus | NHS motorcycle courier |
| Volunteers | 65[1] |
| Slogan | Riding For Life |
| Website | http://www.freewheelers.org.uk |
Freewheelers Emergency Voluntary Service is a registered charity based in South West England. The charity, which was founded in Weston-super-Mare in 1991,[2] owns and operates a fleet of Honda ST1300 Pan-European motorcycles, which are ridden by volunteers, to provide a free-of-charge emergency courier service to local hospitals.
The charity operates in Somerset, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.[3] It is used by NHS hospitals in the area such as Frenchay, Southmead, Weston General, the RUH in Bath, and Musgrove Park in Taunton. The charity's volunteers transport blood for transfusion, blood samples for pathological or microbiological analysis, drugs, patient notes, x-rays, scans and medical equipment.[3]
Freewheelers operates outside regular business hours from 19:00 to 07:00 during the week and 24 hours at weekends and public holidays. All its riders hold an advanced motorcycling qualification,[1] such as IAM or RoSPA.
[edit] Accolades
In 2008, Freewheelers EVS was awarded the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service,[4][5] the highest award that can be given to a voluntary organisation in the United Kingdom and equivalent to an MBE.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Bolton, Adam (2007 August). "Blood Brothers". Motorcycle Sport & Leisure: pp. 46–50. Mortons Media Group Ltd. ISSN 1478-839X.
- ^ a b "Top award for volunteer couriers", BBC News, 2 June 2008. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
- ^ a b Freewheelers hoping for a helping hand this November. North Bristol NHS Trust (16 October 2006). Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
- ^ 2008 Winners, South West. The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service. The Cabinet Office. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
- ^ "BLOOD BIKERS GET NOD FROM QUEEN", Bristol Evening Post, 3 June 2008. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
[edit] External links
 This article about a charity in the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
