Aroundtown MEETS
Aroundtown meets
Whiteknights Yorkshire BLOOD Bikes
pulling on their boots and helmets whatever time of night the phone may ring. From transporting blood for life-saving transfusions in major trauma cases, to donor milk for babies in neonatal care, or essential palliative care supplies for hospices, the Whiteknights have been independently supporting the NHS for over ten years with their free out-of-hours service. Yet the nocturnal nature of their work means few are aware of the significant impact that charitable organisations like Whiteknights have on our healthcare service.
Whiteknights is a founder member of the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes and was part of the first cohort of UK-based blood bikes to form in 2008.
With their fluorescent jackets and liveried motorbikes emblazoned with the word BLOOD, you could be forgiven for thinking that these riders are yet another part of the NHS’s frontline fleet.
They work tirelessly through the night to transport urgent and emergency blood and pathology samples between hospitals and hospices, providing an indispensable service at critical times. Yet the unsociable hours that these riders spend on the roads during their 12-hour shifts, racking up tens of thousands of miles every year, doesn’t come with a top salary to endorse the work they do. For the riders at Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes are all volunteers who do it for the hell of it. Forget the vision of leather-clad hairy bikers - they’re protagonists not anarchists; divine messengers delegated with delivering a service which not only saves lives on two wheels, but also goes the whole hog to save money for the NHS. While there are many selfless volunteers in this world, the Whiteknights are a paragon of gallantry, cavaliers who go far beyond the call of duty by
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aroundtownmagazine.co.uk
Back then, a co-founder of Whiteknights, Vic Siswick, was in hospital when clinical transport was needed during the night. The NHS’s in-house courier provision only operates Monday to Friday 9am till 5pm so Vic’s imminent healthcare needs was in the hands of a local taxi firm. Vic was an avid motorcycle rider and realised that using motorbikes to support the NHS courier service could speed up delivery times compared to a taxi or ambulance due to the control and agility advanced riders have on a bike. And so, Whiteknights was born. Originally, they just covered West Yorkshire and, as riders must live within eight to ten miles of the main locations, volunteers came mainly from that area.
Then, in 2014, a South Yorkshire branch was launched by a group of advanced riders who wanted to be a part of the action. Paul Andrews, from Rotherham, was one of the founder South Yorkshire members along with Wayne Morris and Kevin Morley. A teacher for over 20 years, Paul was off work ill when he saw a TV programme about emergency bikers including the police, paramedics and West Midlands Blood Bikes. Paul has been riding since 1987 and thought the idea of being a blood biker sounded interesting but
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