The Yorkshire Blood Bike charity, Whiteknights, has launched its newest Blood Bike into service. 

The keys to this latest addition to their fleet of volunteer- ridden Blood Bikes were presented at this year’s Annual Provincial Grand Lodge Meeting of the Mark Master Masons of West Yorkshire, held at Bradford Grammar School. 

The Honda NT1100 motorcycle will make urgent deliveries at night and at weekends, free of charge to hospitals and hospices throughout West Yorkshire.

Speaking at the launch, Provincial Grand Master, Trevor Bolton said:

“We’re delighted to see this much needed Blood Bike go into service today to benefit the care and treatment of local patients in our community. 

“The bike was purchased through the national Mark Mason Benevolent Fund which donated £750,000 to the 36 Blood Bike Charities across the country- enabling their fleet of vehicles to be updated and replaced.

“The Whiteknights’ fleet of Blood Bikes and response cars travel in excess of 90,000 miles on Yorkshire roads each year. I have no doubt this new motorcycle will be instrumental in supporting the NHS and saving lives,” said Trevor.

Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes transport urgent Blood specimens; medications donated breast milk and vital supplies.

They have 50 volunteer motorcyclists who willingly ride through the night and at weekends to provide the service. The Blood Bike charity, which responded to 3000 call-outs last year, recently received the MBE for Voluntary Groups – The Kings Award For Voluntary Service.

Regional Manager for Whiteknights West Yorkshire, Matthew Butterfield said: “We’re delighted to have received this new bike. The demand for our service is continuing to expand which has placed additional pressure on our fleet of motorcycles. The Masons have historically been long-time supporters of our charity and all that we aim to achieve. It’s hugely appreciated to receive this recognition of our urgent voluntary service.

Pictured left to right : Asst Provincial Grand Master, Philip Oldfield, Deputy Provincial Grand Master, Andrew Brown, Whiteknights Community Liaison, Chris Parker, Asst Provincial Grand Master, Gary Parker  and Provincial Grand Master Trevor Bolton.

Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bike have today unveiled the latest addition to their Blood Bike Motorcycle Fleet.

Former Leeds Lord Mayor, Mr Keith Loudon OBE, handed over the keys to the Honda motorcycle to Advanced-Qualified Volunteer Whiteknights Rider, John Driscoll.

Mr Loudon, who named the bike in memory of his late wife and former Leeds Lord Mayor’s Consort, Betty Loudon, said that she would have been thrilled to be commemorated in this way.

“Betty was very supportive of my business and community activities. She was excellent at taking an interest in the people of Leeds and was very approachable,” said Mr Loudon – who served with Leeds City Council for over forty years.

“Whiteknights first came to my attention when I learned that one of their blood bikes had been severely damaged in a accident. This resulted in their volunteers being without a motorcycle to conduct their urgent deliveries for the NHS – which they do completely free of charge overnight and at weekends.

“It has been my pleasure to donate towards the cost of replacing a bike for this West Yorkshire Charity. To see the bike in its reflective livery out on the roads of Leeds serving local people is absolutely marvellous.

”The Chairman of Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes, Andrew Foster added: ‘We are extremely grateful for Mr Loudon’s support and generosity. Our fleet of Blood Bikes cover thousands of miles annually and we operate entirely on donations from the public.

“The Betty Loudon Blood Bike is now operational serving hospitals and hospices in the Leeds and York area.”

Pictured at the key handover is John Driscoll and Keith Loudon OBE.

All reactions:11

The Emergency Voluntary Blood Bike Charity, Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes, are appealing for new riders to ride their newly donated Blood Bike.

The new BMW R1250RT Blood Bike is on duty this weekend and was welcomed into service by representatives of the motorcycle’s donors and staff from the Transfusion Team at York Hospital.

Members of the Pocklington based, Widows Sons Masonic Biker Group have been instrumental in raising nearly twenty-thousand pounds to provide the voluntary Blood Bike service with a new bike for North Yorkshire.

Andy Hunn, of the Widow Sons Group presented Whiteknights’ North Yorkshire Manager, Andy Richardson with the keys for the new motorcycle at York Hospital.

Mr Hunn said: “We’re very proud to have purchased a new Blood Bike which will operate in the areas covered by York and Scarborough NHS Foundation Trust. Whiteknights Volunteer Blood Bikers provide a marvelous service totally free of charge to hospitals and hospices in our region.

“They have been so busy during the Pandemic, having ridden thousands of miles, that the Blood Bike for our area needed replacing. We raised £1000 in our local group then achieved further funding through other Masonic charitable foundations including the Freemasons Charity Foundation of Yorkshire North and East Riding.”

Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes North Yorkshire Manager, Andy Richardson added: “We’re delighted to have a new bike available overnight and twenty-four hours at weekends to transport urgent blood samples and medication in the York area. We are now looking to recruit more motorcyclists to volunteer their riding skills to benefit the NHS.

Senior Pharmacy Technician at York Hospital, Cat Reed added:
“We only call Whiteknights when the medications and Controlled Drugs require urgent delivery. We know they’re all volunteers and so we treat the Blood Bike service with the respect and value it deserves – you do a brilliant job!”

The Charity states that for every, free-to-the -NHS journey made out-of-hours by Whiteknights’ volunteers, the charity saves the NHS from expensive alternate transportation costs.

Pictured handing the keys for the Blood Bike is Andy Hunn from The Widows Sons Lodge, and Whiteknight’s North Yorkshire Regional Manager, Andy Richardson.

Volunteer Blood Bikers have received into operational service a newly donated Blood Bike to benefit patients in West Yorkshire.

The £18000, specially equipped, BMW R1250 motorcycle, was presented to the West Yorkshire volunteer rider team of Whiteknights at Dean Clough Mills, Halifax.

The bike named, Tamsin, has been provided by a local Halifax firm, Investing For Tomorrow.

West Yorkshire Manager for Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes, Matthew Butterfield joined with other volunteer riders to accept the keys for the bike.

The donation of the new Blood Bike was facilitated by a former General Manager of Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes, Laurence Turner.

For further information about Investing For Tomorrow, follow the link to their website: https://iftwm.com/

A West Yorkshire based company has paid for over 5500 urgent Blood Bike journeys to support the NHS, during its two-year sponsorship of Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes.

Volunteer Motorcyclists gathered at the Elland Headquarters of Terberg DTS UK Special Vehicles to publically thank the Terberg Charitable Foundation.

Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes West Yorkshire Manager, Matthew Butterfield commented: “Terberg has fuelled our fleet of Blood Bike Motorcycles for the last two years. In that time they have paid for the petrol of over 5500 urgent, “Out-of-hours,” Blood Bike motorcycle journeys.

“Having our fuel sponsored for the first time since our formation in 2008 has been instrumental in ensuring our vital work of supporting Hospitals and Hospices in the region could continue post-pandemic. Terberg DTS UK have also supplied and sponsored one of our motorcycles. They have been the most generous and supportive local business in the history of our charity and we are incredibly grateful for their support.”

Managing Director of Terberg DTS UK, Alisdair Cooper added:

“We wanted to recognise that our voluntary Blood Bikers in Yorkshire do a fabulous job to benefit our community and Yorkshire Patients. The riders achieve so much moving Blood Samples, medications, donated breast milk and medical supplies every day of the year. It’s been an absolute pleasure to support their voluntary work for this period.”

Pictured are volunteer Blood Bikers  alongside Whiteknights’ West Yorkshire Manager, Matthew Butterfield thanking Alisdair Cooper of Terberg DTS UK.

Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes have put on display their newly loaned and donated vehicles for National Blood Bike Day.

Whiteknights Volunteer Advanced-qualified Rider, Trevor Cooper is pictured alongside a BMW R1200RT Blood Bike donated by The Mark Benevolent Fund of the Mark Master Masons.

In 2018 more than £400,000 was donated to Blood Bike Charities across England and Wales. They supplied cars and motorcycles which went into service and provided vital support to the NHS during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Also on display are two vehicles on-loan from BMW UK. West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire BMW Dealers, Sandal BMW and Stratstone BMW have a history of supporting Whiteknights in this way.

Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes remain extremely grateful to be equipped with vehicles vital to perform their voluntary service.

Pictured are North Yorkshire Regional Manager, Martin Benson and Fleet Manager, Adam Stead.

Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes launch their latest fleet vehicle a BMW i3 electric car.

The vehicle is supplied and maintained by Sandal BMW Huddersfield.
It has gone into immediate operational service to support the urgent and emergency transfer of Blood Samples between Hospitals and Hospices in West Yorkshire especially during the recent adverse weather conditions in West Yorkshire.

Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes are delighted to announce the addition of a new BMW R1250 into their fleet of operational blood bikes.

Seen here at the recent unveiling at an event in Bradford, Stewart Carley from the Provincial Grand Chapter of Yorkshire West Riding, handed the keys to Whiteknights West Yorkshire Manager, Andy Dickens.

“As we enter into our busy period of the winter months, having a new bike available to our riders is hugely appreciated,” said Andy.

The new machine is called Victoria and is named after Stewart’s daughter. Stewart is among the first few recipients to be awarded the certification of “Whiteknights Champion” for their contribution to the sustainability of our charity.