Freewheelers EVS News Archive

This page contains archived news articles. For news from the past six months see our main news page.

Need help starting your own group?

December 3^rd 2006
We continue to receive a number of contacts from individuals interested in starting up a Freewheelers blood bike group in their own area. In addition to this charity, there are now groups using the Freewheelers name in South Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hereford & Worcester. There is also a group, SERV, operating in the south east covering London, Surrey, Kent and Sussex.

We are always pleased to assist in any way that we can to get a new group up and running - especially if they embrace the Freewheelers philosophy of using advanced riders to deliver the highest possible standard of service. With this in mind we have setup a "How to start up a new group" web page. We are also happy to back up our words with actions and provide whatever practical help and advice we can offer. We have already done this with two new groups that are currently being started up: Severn Freewheelers and Dorset Freewheelers. If you are thinking of starting a group then read the advice page and get in contact with us. We are here to help.

Fund raising success

Genette Ellis (left) and Alison Mayer collecting at Bridgwater Carnival

November 22^nd 2006
The past few weeks have seen Freewheelers raise a significant amount of money at two different events.

The first event was Weston Beach Race, a motocross race that is held every October on the beach at Weston-super-Mare. This is normally a huge fund raiser for Freewheelers and this year was no different. Despite the downpour on Sunday we managed to raise £1478. See our gallery for pictures taken at the carnival.

Freewheelers would like to thank Alison and her colleagues for their support. Without Alison's help we would not have attended the carnival and raised such important funds.

Reacting to Emergency Vehicles

September 29^th 2006
Deciding on what to do when you hear an emergency vehicle approaching can be a dilemma. Do you stay where you are and potentially block the progress of an emergency vehicle? Or do you move into a position that may put you or other road users at risk?

The Institute of Advanced Motoring (IAM) regularly publishes driving tips. The latest tip is highly relevant to the work done by Freewheelers.

IAM Driving Tip 38: Emergency Vehicles offers advice on how to react when you see or hear an emergency vehicle approaching. As an organisation that uses emergency vehicles Freewheelers EVS is supporting the promotion of this important safety message. Please take the time to read the article.

Totally Triumphant

August 10^th 2006
Neil Mossman is pictured left presenting a cheque for £262 to Freewheelers EVS volunteer rider Alan Blythe. The presentation took place outside the Total Triumph motorcycle dealership in Taunton.

Mr Mossman's family recently arranged a charity motorcycle rideout to commemorate the anniversary of his father's death. The cheque presented to Freewheelers was some of the money raised during the ride.

Also pictured is Mr Mossman's mother presenting an identical cheque to another well deserving Somerset charity.

Freewheelers would like to thank the Mossman family as well as the staff and customers of Total Triumph for their support.

Freewheelers gain visibility thanks to ICU-UCMe

July 10^th 2006
Pictured right are two Freewheelers EVS riders modelling high visibility jackets supplied by ICU-UCMe. Tom Craig, managing director of ICU-UCMe, recently presented Freewheelers with 15 blouson style jackets and 15 lightweight over-jackets to help increase the visibility and safety of our riders. Each jacket bears the charity's logo and the word "BLOOD" printed in large letters on the back. The jackets, which will be worn by our volunteers whenever they are on duty, will play a vital part in keeping our riders safe while they are on the bikes making valuable deliveries to local hospitals.

In addition to providing the jackets, ICU-UCMe will make a donation to Freewheelers for every jacket that is sold through our website. If you wish to purchase one of ICU-UCMe's excellent motorcycle or car high visibility jackets please mention Freewheelers EVS in your order to ensure that we receive the welcome donation to our funds.

According to Department of Transport figures for 2004, more than 3,000 people were killed and 280,000 were injured in traffic accidents. Jackets such as those provided by ICU-UCMe are a very tangible way of reducing those needless deaths and injuries. Freewheelers EVS is proud to be associated with Tom Craig and ICU-UCMe.

So long and thanks for all the fuel

July 6^th 2006

John Graves, chairman of Freewheelers EVS, is pictured left presenting a certificate of thanks to BWOC managing director Mark Wayne and his executive assistant Nikki Corrick.

On June 30th Freewheelers' 8 month sponsorship by BWOC came to an end. During that time BWOC supplied Freewheelers with heavily discounted petrol for its entire fleet of motorcycles. The sponsorship from BWOC shielded the charity from two periods which saw petrol prices rise to £1/litre.

Freewheelers EVS would like to thank Mark Wayne and all the staff at BWOC for their support. Without their financial support the charity's ability to carry out its valuable work for local hospitals may have been under threat.

Freewheelers exhibit at Sanders GardenWorld

June 1^st & 2^nd 2006
Freewheelers EVS would like to thank the management and staff of Sanders GardenWorld at Brent Knoll for their hospitality and for giving us the opportunity to exhibit in their Village Square events area. Freewheelers exhibited two bikes at the garden centre during half term week. We were delighted to be able to show off the bikes and talk about our work to a number of children as well as their parents and grandparents. In addition we raised £112 thanks to the kind donations from GardenWorld customers.

Pictured right are Freewheelers volunteer riders Ian Pruce, Mike Belch, Alan Blythe, Allan Thomas and Dave Hobbs

Freewheelers EVS success at Bike Show South West

May 4^th 2006
On April 29^th and 30^th Freewheelers EVS attended Bike Show South West at the Bath & West Showground. For the charity this is an important event in our fund raising calendar.

Our bucket rattling at the show resulted in a collection of £740. We also exhibited a new motorcycle on loan from Honda UK that we hope to buy and operate with donations received from the show.

Our funds were also boosted by a very welcome donation of £600 by the Christian Motorcyclists' Association from Bristol. Pictured above right is Freewheelers EVS chairman John Graves presenting a thank you plaque to a member of the CMA.

See our Events Galleries for more pictures from this event.

April is "Long Way Down" month

April 3^rd 2006
On Tuesday April 25^th a group of eleven riders on Honda Pan European motorcycles will begin the long journey down from John O'Groats to Lands End. The aim of this group is to raise an estimated £6000 for Freewheelers EVS.

Nine of the eleven riders are members of the south west area of Pan Clan, the Pan European owners club. The other two are volunteer riders with Freewheelers EVS. The inspiration for the Long Way Down event came a result of a visit by two Freewheelers EVS volunteers to a Pan-Clan club night, where they gave a talk about the charity's work. As Freewheelers EVS also ride Pan European Motorcycles it was decided that Pan Clan would raise some money for their cause.

At first it looked like it was going to be a small ride with just four bikes raising a modest amount of sponsorship, but as time went on it started to grow. There are now have eleven bikes and a back up van. The ride will begin on Sunday 23^rd April when the riders travel to Loch Lomond and stay at the Youth Hostel. On Monday they will complete their trip up to John O'Groats, before starting the journey back down on Tuesday 25^th. En-route the riders will be visiting a number of Honda motorcycle dealers to collect prizes for the grand draw raffle. On Saturday 29^th at the Bath and West Showground the riders will be joined by a number of other bikes for the Final Leg run down to Lands End, so far over 100 bikes of all types and sizes have registered to do the final leg. If you wish to join the riders for this last leg we would encourage you to register.

Sponsorship has started to grow as well with a large percentage coming from various companies from around the country as well as personal collecting for the trip. There will be a grand draw with lots of very nice prizes which will be drawn at Motorcycle World Show Beaulieu Hampshire 25 June on the Pan-Clan / Freewheelers EVS stand.

If you feel you could offer sponsorship, provide a raffle prize, or even sell some raffle tickets please contact Colin Heath - Tel 01749 830488

Please be sure to check this page during the event for a daily update on the team's progress.

Freewheelers EVS is Charity Of The Week on BBC Somerset Sound

March 24^th 2006
From March 20^th to 24^th, Freewheelers EVS was the featured Charity Of The Week on BBC Somerset Sound. Morning Show presenter Jo Phillips (pictured right) interviewed Freewheelers EVS volunteers Ken Fryer, Mike Belch, Allan Roberts, Alan Blythe and John Graves. The interviews each lasted around 10 minutes and gave Freewheelers EVS the chance to publicise the excellent work that it does for the NHS in Somerset.

Freewheelers EVS would like to thank Jo and the staff of BBC Somerset Sound for giving us the chance to showcase our work, attract new volunteers and raise much needed additional funding.

Freewheelers EVS Raises £1700 at Bristol Classic Bike Show

February 2006
Freewheels EVS attended the Bristol Classic Bike Show at the Bath & West Showground on the weekend of Saturday 11^th February. Despite an inferior stand location compared with previous years we still managed to raise more than £1700, which will go a long way towards paying our running costs this year.

The photo on the left shows an honoured visitor to our stand, Teddy Edward, who donated £100 to Freewheelers EVS after a successful nose and paw job.

Also featured on the Freewheelers EVS stand was a Honda Pan European ST1300 Police bike, which was kindly loaned to us by Honda UK. The bike is one that we hope to be able to buy as a replacement for our spare bike which was destroyed in an unfortunate accident in January.

See our Events Galleries for more pictures from this event.

PRESS RELEASE

31^st January, 2006
At approximately 1850hrs on Monday 30^th January 2006, an advanced motorcyclist trained volunteer rider lost control of a fully marked blood bike (Honda ST1100 Pan European) as it was travelling onto the M5 motorway southbound at junction 22. There were no other vehicles directly involved in the incident. The rider sustained chest and hip injuries and was treated on scene by the Westcountry ambulance service, he was then conveyed by ambulance to Weston-super-Mare General Hospital, where the rider was treated overnight. The rider was released from hospital at 12:30 today and is now recovering at home. The motorcycle sustained extensive damage and at this time appears to be beyond economical repair. The rider was on his way to a non-emergency call, and blue lights and sirens were not in use at the time. The police and the Freewheelers are investigating the cause of the incident.

The Freewheelers are a charity based in Weston-super-Mare, which deliver Emergency and non-emergency medical supplies at no cost to the N.H.S., to and from hospitals and other health departments across Somerset and beyond. The loss of the motorcycle could well have an impact on the service provided, and we would like to appeal to the public for their support in hopefully providing a replacement motorcycle. The motorcycle that was written off was a 1999 model, and the insurance value unfortunately means it will probably be a total loss."

• Article from Bristol Evening Post - February 6^th

Freewheelers EVS benefits thanks to Sainsbury's Local Hero

December 2005
As part of its corporate responsibility work, Sainsbury's set up the Local Heroes scheme with the aim of recognising and rewarding the individual volunteering and team fundraising efforts of Sainsbury's colleagues. To participate in Local Heroes, colleagues complete and submit a form describing the type of work they do and those who benefit from it. Completion of this form automatically rewards colleagues with £200 for the charity or group they volunteer with in their own time.

Peter Hawkes, a Freewheelers EVS volunteer rider, works two days a week at the Bath store and entered the 2005 scheme.

Selected members of the scheme were further recognised for their efforts at a ceremony hosted by Justin King, Sainsbury's Chief Executive (pictured right with Peter). Peter was invited to that ceremony and was chosen as the winner of the Local Heroes 2005 Volunteer Category. At that ceremony Peter was given a cheque for a further £500 for Freewheelers EVS.

This photo on the left shows of Peter on one of Freewheelers' bikes. It was taken outside Sainsbury's Bath store. It will be used as the cover shot in 'The Journal', Sainsbury's house magazine.

Freewheelers EVS given fuel price lifeline by local company

November 2005
On October 7^th Freewheelers EVS was featured in an article in the Weston & Somerset Mercury newspapers. The background to the article was rising fuel prices, some close to £1/litre, which were severely hitting the charity's finances.

As a direct result of the article Freewheelers EVS were contacted by BWOC Limited, a Weston-super-Mare based fuel company, and were offered a sponsorship deal which will significantly cut our fuel costs over the coming months. Freewheelers EVS would like to thank Mark Wayne, managing director of BWOC Limited, for his company's support. We would also like to thank Jack Hunter from the Weston Mercury newspaper for the positive support that his publication has given to us.

• Scanned copy of the original article. (Source: Weston & Somerset Mercury - 7^th October 2005)
• Scanned copy of the article announcing the BWOC deal. (Source: Weston & Somerset Mercury - November 25^th 2005)