Freewheelers EVS

Freewheelers Emergency Voluntary Service is a registered charity and winner of the Queen's Award For Voluntary Service, which provides an out-of-hours emergency motorcycle courier service to hospitals in the South West of England.

Riding For Life: A registered charity (no. 1001067) founded in 1990, Freewheelers EVS has a coverage area that includes Somerset, Bristol, Bath and West Wiltshire. Freewheelers is one of a number of groups that cover different parts of the country.

Our lifesaving service to the NHS is provided free of charge and is funded entirely by public donation and sponsorship. We are often referred to as blood bikes but we do much more, transporting test samples, patient notes, X-rays, and other medical supplies. In 2008, we made 2,200 deliveries, covering a distance of 85,000 miles. Further details of our work can be found in our 2008–2009 annual report, our detailed statistics and our Constitution.

Freewheelers EVS operates a fleet of specially adapted Yamaha FJR1300 motorcycles equipped with high-visibility markings, plus blue lights and sirens for emergency use, which enable us to save lives by delivering urgently required items safely and promptly. If our service did not exist hospitals would be forced to use a costly and potentially slow taxi, or commercial courier.

Freewheelers EVS is run entirely by volunteers. All our riders hold an advanced motorcycling qualification, such as the advanced riding test by RoSPA, IAM, or the BMF. We also have a team of fund raisers and telephone co-ordinators. Incoming requests from hospitals are categorised by the on-duty co-ordinator as non-urgent, urgent, or emergency and the nearest of our three on-duty bikes is dispatched to assist. In June 2008, Freewheelers' volunteers were awarded the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in recognition of their work as unsung heroes.

Feel free to contact us if you would like more information.

Hospitals and other NHS institutions wishing to use the Freewheelers EVS service should call our duty co-ordinator on 07050 601315 or 07005 993957 during the following hours:

Monday-Friday - 19:00 to 07:00

Weekends & Bank Holidays - 24 hours