On an icy Saturday in November, Freewheelers rider Mel Rowbottom spent the day being followed by a film crew from production company RDF Television, who were shooting footage for Channel 5 TV series Emergency Bikers. Researcher Claire and camera operator Jemma fitted Mel with a shoulder-mounted camera and fixed a bullet camera to the emergency light pole on the back of Mel's BMW R1200RT motorcycle. Then it was off around Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Bath making our usual vital weekend deliveries. The bike was followed by a car driven by Claire, with Jemma filming from the passenger seat, and Mel's husband Martyn in the back enjoying the spectacle of a professional TV crew at work.

During the day, Mel picked up surgical equipment at St Michael's Hospital in Bristol for delivery to the RUH in Bath, travelled up the M5 to junction 14 for a handover with Severn Freewheelers who needed a sample delivering to the pathology laboratory at Frenchay Hospital, and finally several samples from St Martin's in Bath to the RUH. On Sunday the crew returned to Mel and Martyn's house to get some profile shots and to interview Mel about her experiences with Freewheelers.

A couple of weeks prior to this, the same crew spent time with our sister group Severn Freewheelers, so hopefully there will be enough material to give a good overview of the work done by the blood bike charities in the UK.

See photos of the filming in our gallery, and watch out for the programme when it is broadcast on Friday December 17th on Channel Five.

UPDATE: Mel's moment of fame on TV was a great success. Clearly a lot of people watched the programme because our website crashed under the weight of the traffic it received afterwards. If you want to see the segment of the programme go to Channel Five's Demand Five website and fast-forward to the 30-minute mark, or watch the blood bikes clip in our gallery.