Aroundtown MEETS


‘‘Despite their name, they don’t just carry blood like many people assume. Along with biochemistry and haematology samples, their consignments may also include controlled drugs, vital medical supplies, or even documents and x-rays.’’


was a bit far out of Whiteknights’ catchment area. The following year, together with Kevin and


Wayne and enough support from other riders, a South Yorkshire development team was launched and the rest is history.


Whiteknights is now made up of three branches – North, West and South - which cover the majority of Yorkshire.


There are currently around 60 volunteer riders overall who are rostered to do 12-hour shifts during evenings and weekends; either Monday to Thursday 7pm till 7am, or from 7pm Friday to 7am Monday which is split into four shifts. Many riders, like Paul, fit their shifts in around work and family commitments which, for the unknowing general public like us, is hard to fathom.


“I no longer teach but I care for my mother full time and my autistic daughter part-time, as well as working two days a week at Citizens Advice Bureau and teaching tai chi.


“The appreciation makes the long days and nights worthwhile. Even now, I’m still humbled by the reaction and praise we receive from the public and other bikers,” Paul says.


While many riders are retired, others, like recent recruit Ian Culf from Sheffield, run businesses but still want to do their bit to help make a difference despite being saddled with their own responsibilities. “I’m a self-employed joiner so I could be delivering blood at 6am and on a roof at 8.30am. I was picking some samples up at 3am from Sheffield Children’s Hospital recently and the woman on reception asked me what I was doing after. I said I was going back to bed because I was shattered.


“She looked at me in horror like I was skiving and said, ‘I thought you were supposed to be on shift?’ She couldn’t believe I’d been working my ‘proper’ job that day and would be working again a few hours later,” Ian says. Personal motives led to Ian joining Whiteknights last September. His father was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia towards the end of 2018 and died in the November.


“I decided that in the New Year I was going to pay back the NHS for the excellent care my dad received by volunteering in some way. I came across Whiteknights and, having been a keen rider for over 20 years, took my advanced rider test and became actively involved last September. “Since I joined, everyone I’ve met at


Whiteknights has been totally genuine; they’re a fantastic group of people. We come from different walks of life, different ages, but we all have one interest in common – helping others.” In South Yorkshire, Whiteknights work with all the major Sheffield hospitals and some hospices, encompassing a range of people they help. From the start of life at Jessop Wing maternity unit to those at end of life at St Luke’s Hospice, the Whiteknights riders are on-call through the night and every weekend to deliver whatever is needed for someone’s urgent or critical care. “Bikers like myself mostly ride for pleasure with no time restrictions and usually a cup of tea at the end of it. This is a completely different format – our cargo could save a life.


“It’s a very rewarding role; even if you don’t get called out you still feel happy that nobody is sick enough to need us. But if you do get a call, you’re playing a small part in helping someone you will never meet,” Ian says.


Although the majority of their deliveries are nameless, the onward journey undisclosed, Whiteknights South Yorkshire members were fortunate to encounter one of their beneficiaries last year who waivered his right to patient confidentiality to publicly thank them. John Bulliman, from Bawtry, needed irradiated blood for a transfusion to prevent him from developing the rare, but often fatal, transfusion- associated graft versus host disease (TA-GVHD). Due to the process irradiated blood must undergo, it needs to be ordered and there wasn’t any available in Sheffield where he was receiving treatment for leukaemia and sepsis. The Whiteknights collected it from a relay of other bikers during transportation almost 100 miles up the country from Birmingham.


“I didn’t see them unfortunately as I was in no condition, but I am so grateful that they do what they do as without them I wouldn’t be here today,” John says.


‘‘As thanks for their part in saving John’s life, the club unanimously decided to donate a substantial amount of money to purchase a new bike and cover the running costs for three years.’’


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John is a Sheffield freemason and a member of Ivanhoe Lodge 1799. As thanks for Whiteknights’ part in saving John’s life, the club unanimously decided to donate a substantial amount of money to purchase a new bike and cover the running costs for three years. The keys to ‘Ivanhoe’, a BMW R1200RTP


Police-spec bike, were graciously handed over at a ceremony at Tapton Hall at the beginning of last year.


Ivanhoe is the latest in a convoy of six bikes that belong to Whiteknights which also includes an electric car for when temperatures are too low to carry blood on a bike. Each bike costs around £18,000 to buy and a further £6,000 per year to run, due in part to the exponential mileage of around 40,000 miles that each bike travels over two years.


In South Yorkshire, they have two bikes – Ivanhoe, and Lionheart which was donated by Rotherham Lions Club in 2014 funded by profits from their Rawmarsh charity shop.


They have kindly been given a hub at Northern General Hospital in Sheffield where the two riders on shift each collect a bike to keep at home overnight so they can respond immediately to any calls.


While many riders can expect to be called out once or twice a night, there is no guarantee that the phone will ring so the volunteers are encouraged to go home and sleep after each delivery if they’re covering the night shift. But during busier periods, the phone may constantly ring like it did for Whiteknights South


John Bulliman saying thanks


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