WATCH: Highlands and Island Blood Bikes volunteers share what it’s like to cover ‘huge area’
Volunteers behind the essential charity, Highlands and Island Blood Bikes, have shared what it’s like to cover one of the biggest land masses in the UK, 365 days a year.
The charity, which is entirely run by volunteers and funded by public donations, provides a rapid response service 365 days a year. They move urgent medical samples, medication and equipment between hospitals, GP practices and the homes of patients.
Next month, the award-winning charity will also begin transporting human donor milk for newborn babies.
The charity was set up in 2019, and was the last area of the UK and Ireland to have its own Blood Bike organisation. Since then, Highlands and Islands Blood Bikes has won the Charitable Organisation of the Year award at Highland Heroes Awards 2023.
“We’ve been going five years now and have 105 volunteers who do everything from riding motorbikes, driving cars, operating the telephones and fundraising for us,” said Gordon Scott who previously worked in sales marketing before retiring to become the secretary of Highlands and Islands Blood Bikes. “We are a 100% volunteer lead, organised and funded charity. We move medical supplies for the NHS free of charge, for things like patients’ blood and medications, from laboratory to laboratory, and hospital to hospital.
“If you end up in hospital in Wick, and they think you might have sepsis and want your bloods at Raigmore Hospital, we get the phone call. We cover from John O’Groats to Dunoon, right down the west coast — almost to Glasgow. It’s a huge area!”
Between October 2023 to August 2024, the charity has covered nearly 110,000 miles, with an average of 22 weekly journeys.
“We’ve been going five years now, and have 105 members who do everything from ride bikes, drive cars manage telephones and fundraise. We do 1200 jobs a year for the NHS, 365 days a year, from 7am to 7pm.”
To donate to Highlands and Islands Blood Bikes, visit www.haibloodbikes.co.uk
