Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes today marked National Blood Bike Awareness Day with the presentation of a donated BMW motorcycle from Elland-based Special Vehicle supplier Terberg DTS (UK).
West Yorkshire Regional Manager for Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes, Andy Dickens said, “We’re delighted to receive this bike into our expanding fleet of motorcycles, ridden by volunteers to urgently transport medical samples for testing between Hospitals and Hospices in Yorkshire.
“So far 2018 has seen a continued increase in the demand for Voluntary Blood Bike services from our charity. Whiteknights received 1746 call-outs between August 2017 to August 2018 with 810 call-outs from 1st January this year.”
Alisdair Couper, Managing Director of Terberg DTS (UK) added; “We’re one of the UK’s largest supplier of Special Vehicles to the Logistics and Military market sector. We’re part of the Dutch Terberg Group with a history spanning 150 years. We opened our current facility in Elland in 2000 and we now have 140 staff working 24 hours a day supporting our civilian and military customers.
“We’re delighted to donate this motorcycle to the Whiteknights. We have many colleagues within the business who are passionate motorcyclists and we thought is was very fitting to support the Whiteknights who are providing a fantastic service to support the NHS in this way.”
The increased work load experienced by Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes is also reflected nationally.
Statistics from the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes, comprising 32 independent Blood Bike Charity groups, registered a record 73,617 operational call-outs during this period – an increase of more than 30% over figures for 2016-2017.
Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes will be celebrating Blood Bike Awareness day this weekend with public appearances at Meadowhall, Sheffield and Doncaster Races.
Pictured (left to right) presenting the BMW Motorcycle is Alisdair and Paul from Terberg DTS (UK) and West Yorkshire Regional Manager for WKYBB, Andy Dickens.