Blood bikes is the informal name for a type of emergency medical service in the United Kingdom and Ireland, who provide voluntary motorcycle courier services to hospitals and other healthcare providers, to help with the transport of urgent blood, tissue and organs.
Blood bikes have been in operation in England since 1962 when Margaret Ryerson and her husband formed the Emergency Volunteer Service (EVS) in Surrey. In 1969 this was followed by the Freewheelers youth community action group in Stevenage which initially served hospitals in Stevenage, Luton, Dunstable, Bedford and Hitchin. These original groups are no longer operating, but they inspired other groups to provide similar services.
The third group, which still operates today, was the Yeovil Freewheelers, founded by Cecil Turner in 1978. In 1981, SERV (which formed shortly after the original EVS disbanded) and the North East Thames Emergency Voluntary Service (also known as the EVS) in North East London, were founded. Thames EVS disbanded in 1999 but SERV continues to this day and now operates as a number of different groups. Other groups followed, and new groups continue to be created.
Groups are largely independent, and operate in collaboration with their local healthcare providers. Many are represented through the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes (NABB).
Areas stated are those primarily covered by each group, however collections, relay handovers and deliveries routinely take place further afield as and when circumstances demand.
England and Wales
Blood Bikes Cumbria — Cumbria (north)
Blood Bikes Manchester — Manchester
Blood Bikes Wales — Wales
Bloodrun EVS — Cleveland, North Yorkshire
Cornwall Blood Bikes — Cornwall
Derbyshire Blood Bikes — Derbyshire
Devon Freewheelers — Devon
Freewheelers EVS — Bath, Bristol, Gloucestershire (south), Somerset, West Wiltshire
Leicestershire and Rutland Blood Bikes — Leicestershire, Rutland
Lincolnshire Emergency Blood Bikes Service — Lincolnshire
Merseyside & Cheshire Blood Bikes — Cheshire (west), Merseyside
Midland Freewheelers — West Midlands
North West Blood Bikes Lancashire & Lakes — Cumbria (south), Lancashire
Northumbria Blood Bikes — County Durham, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear
Nottinghamshire Blood Bikes — Nottinghamshire
SERV Herts & Beds — Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire
SERV Kent — Kent
SERV Norfolk — Norfolk
SERV OBN — Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire
SERV Suffolk & Cambridgeshire — Cambridgeshire, Suffolk
SERV Surrey & South London — South London, Surrey
SERV Sussex — Sussex
SERV Wessex — Wessex
Severn Freewheelers — Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire
Shropshire & Staffordshire Blood Bikes — Cheshire (south), Shropshire, Staffordshire
Warwickshire and Solihull Blood Bikes — Solihull, Warwickshire
Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes — Cleveland, Yorkshire
Yeovil Freewheelers — Dorset, Somerset
Ireland
Blood Bike Dublin — Dublin
Blood Bike Leinster — Leinster
Blood Bike Mid West — Croom, Ennis, Limerick City, Nenagh
Blood Bike West — Galway
Blood Bikes East — Greater Dublin
Northeast Bloodrunners — Cavan, Louth, Monaghan
Scotland
Blood Bikes Scotland — Fife, Lothians, Scottish Borders
Dumfries & Galloway Blood Bikes — South West Scotland
Life Savers Scotland — Lanarkshire
North East Rider Volunteers Scotland — North East Scotland
ScotsERVS — Glasgow
