Who are you? I live in North Bristol with my husband Martyn who is a co-ordinator for Freewheelers. By day I'm a management accountant for a comms company in Bristol city centre, by night I’m usually doing a bike related activity with Bristol Advanced motorcyclists whether, club nights, committee meeting, observing or just having fun on the ride outs.

How long have you been riding and what bike do you normally ride? I have been riding since I could cling on the back of my parents vespa scooter and never looked back since, had my own Puch wind up moped to get to school followed by a C50 step through for a few years before passing my motorcycle test in 1992 and becoming the owner of a brand new Honda CBF250N which I still own. Then in 2003 I passed my IAM test and treated myself to a Honda CBF600S which I am still riding today and is used for commuting, observing with the IAM and touring in Spain so it is a good all rounder. And still going strong some 48k miles later…good old Honda !

What do you do for Freewheelers? I am a volunteer rider on the North bike, I also co-ordinate which is a good way of learning where all the hospitals are across the patch and getting to know the riders. Recently I’ve been involved in fundraising as well which is a good opportunity to publicise the work we do.

How long have you been with Freewheelers and why did you join? I joined in 2008 after qualifying as an Observer and my advanced riding skills being ‘approved’ My reward was to become the first female rider for Freewheelers for a couple of months with others quickly following which is great for the group. Co-ordinating and fundraising are also really good ways of getting involved and challenging/developing your own skills - you don’t have to ride a bike to do either of these and you will always get a great sense of ‘doing something worthwhile’ My reason for joining Freewheelers was two-fold 
a) I always had a desire to be a motorcycle paramedic however things were not meant to be and the other option of being a first responder was not practical but I did want to do something that would fulfil these desires. 
b) Several members of both the Bristol and the Cheddar Valley advanced motorcyclists were riders for Freewheelers and seeing what they did, the benefits to the NHS and the fulfilment they got from volunteering made the decision easy and I’ve never looked back, even managed to get my husband involved on the co-ordinating and fundraising side.

What do you like most about volunteering for Freewheelers? It is primarily the feel good factor I get knowing that by giving up my time it has helped to save not only money for the NHS but also helped to keep operations working (through instrument deliveries), doctors ability to diagnosis (medical notes / blood sample deliveries) plus of course I get to ride a big powerful bike in full livery to aid my flow through traffic – bonus !

What do you least like about volunteering for Freewheelers? The anticipation of the phone ringing. Having given up evenings or a weekend to be on call I prefer to be out there riding or working out which rider needs to be where if co-ordinating all three bikes, rather than play a waiting game.

Tell us about something memorable about your work for Freewheelers? The surprise package…..despite asking for info about ‘packages’ being delivered you don’t always know what you will get. A box of saline solution turned out to be 20 bags of saline drips in a large cardboard box I had to lug down the hospital corridors and then strap carefully and securely to the bike. However other riders have been asked to carry a walking stick and recently a patient on a stretcher… of course being a bike we do turn down unreasonable requests ! I commute daily and filtering through traffic is often challenging but on several Freewheeler runs through similar roads you get this ‘unzipping’ sensation as the gap you have to filter through just widens on both sides as car drivers see the ‘Blood’ sign and move over in their lane to give you space. Thank you if you are one of them !

Anything else you want to add? If you don’t ride, or want to know more about Freewheelers’ operations, then volunteer to be a co-ordinator – you quickly get to know the common locations, and build up a rapport with the other riders so if you do decide to become a rider later on you know what to expect.