Blood Bikes Wales is a

blood bike A blood bike is a motorcycle used to courier urgent and emergency medical items including blood, X-rays, samples, drugs, and documentation between hospitals and other healthcare facilities. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a network of largely ...

charity based in Wales. Founded in 2011, it provides a free

motorcycle courier A motorcycle courier, also known as a despatch rider or motorcycle messenger, is a courier using a motorcycle. Motorcycle couriers are common in the major urban centres of Europe, South America (especially Brazil), Asia and North America. ...

service to

NHS Wales NHS Wales ( cy, GIG (Gwasanaeth Iechyd Gwladol) Cymru) is the publicly-funded healthcare system in Wales, and one of the four systems which make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. NHS Wales was formed as part of the public ...

hospitals across the country, operating a fleet of motorcycles which are ridden and co-ordinated by volunteers. Blood Bikes Wales is a member of the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes (NABB) and co-operates with similar organisations in England.

Operations

Blood Bikes Wales was formed in 2011 and now has 23 bikes on the road in six of the

local health board NHS Wales has been organised into administrative units known as Local Health Boards (LHB, ) since 2003. Following a reorganisation in 2009, there are currently seven local health boards in Wales. Local health boards may use an operational name ...

s in Wales: Swansea Bay University Health Board (Swansea) Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board (Merthyr Tydfil, Llantrisant) Hywel Dda (Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire) Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (Newport, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire), Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (Wrexham and Bangor), and Powys Teaching Health Board (Ceredigion, Newport, Swansea). Operating between 7pm and 10am on weekdays and 24 hours at weekends and public holidays, the charity provides a service enabling hospitals to avoid the need to use taxis or commercial couriers, saving the NHS money. During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the charity responded by temporarily extending its service to operate 24/7.

Accolades

In November 2019, Blood Bikes Wales was awarded the Organisation of the Year Award at the

Wales Council for Voluntary Action Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) ( Welsh: ''Cyngor Gweithredu Gwirfoddol Cymru'') is the national membership organisation for the third sector and volunteering in Wales. Its aim is to work towards 'A future where the third sector and volu ...

(WCVA) Welsh Charities Awards. On 2 June 2021, Blood Bikes Wales was awarded the

Queen's Award for Voluntary Service The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, also known as The Queen's Golden Jubilee Award for Voluntary Service by Groups in the Community and The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award is an annual award given to groups in the voluntary sect ...

, the highest award that can be given to a voluntary organisation in the United Kingdom and equivalent to an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

. Blood Bikes Wales were also awarded an additional special designation for providing impactful support to their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.

References

External links

Official website
* {{EW charity, 1143352, Blood Bikes Wales Blood bikes Charities based in Wales Organizations established in 2011

Operations

Accolades

See also

References

External links