Thanks to Scott Walker from Stone for this guest post on a charity that he’s involved with – Shropshire and Staffordshire Blood Bikes. The charity – which performs a vital service – is on the look-out for new riders, controllers and fundraisers. Over to Scott…
It is the early hours of the morning and a hospital urgently requires blood. Currently hospitals within Shropshire and Staffordshire have little choice but to call a local taxi company to collect and deliver the blood. The hospital would then be charged retail rates for this “service”, which can cost between £200-300 per trip!
That’s where we intend to help!
Shropshire and Staffordshire Blood Bikes (SSBB) is an Emergency Volunteer Service aiming to provide urgent and emergency transportation of life saving medical supplies to the NHS Foundations across our region. Through the dedication of our volunteer staff, we intend to be operational every night of the year!
Just blood you say?
SSBB transport a variety of other urgent medical items in addition to blood products, including breast milk (which is donated by women and used to feed premature babies). This is achieved using temperature-controlled boxes attached to our bikes. Furthermore, we are also open to transporting other urgent items such as patient notes, electronic scan information and even small pieces of urgently needed surgical equipment.
Across the UK there are groups similar to ours operating for the benefit of their local area. Through co-operation between these groups, we link together to form the Blood Bike Network, which provides such a vital service up and down the country, saving the NHS money on taxis – and most importantly, saving lives!
SSBB needs you!
With the ever increasing need for the NHS to save money but without compromising patient care, the demands upon the charity grow each year. SSBB needs to grow to meet this increasing demand.
To do so, we need more volunteers, whether that be in the form of riders, fundraisers or controllers. If you feel you can help, contact us on shrops.staffsbloodbikes@gmail.com Click HERE to visit the Shropshire and Staffordshire Blood Bikes website
