A RETIRED businessman from Barry has described how volunteering as a rider for Blood Bikes Wales allows him to combine his love of motorbikes with delivering vital supplies to hospitals where time is of the essence.
Martin Ricketts, 67, held senior positions at Barclays bank before going on to work in health insurance, but nowadays he gives up some of his spare time every week to help transport medical supplies.
The blood bike movement has its origins in two groups that were created during the 1960s in southern England. Between 2008 and 2019, the number of active blood bike groups rose from five (all based in southern England) to more than 40, and in 2011 Blood Bikes Wales was formed when a group of people held their first meeting after being inspired by an episode of Emergency Bikers on Channel 5.
At their first meeting, the group discussed how to establish a service in the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board area where they would provide a completely free courier service for the NHS, relying solely on volunteers and donations. There were major logistical challenges, including the need to acquire a fleet of bikes, but in April 2013 they completed their first live shift.
Martin was with the charity from the outset, and during those challenging early years, bikes were purchased second hand from other blood bike groups throughout the UK, and there were occasions where volunteers paid for fuel and MOTs from their own pockets.
Today, Blood Bikes Wales has nearly 400 members, 24 bikes and no paid staff.
Despite the organisation’s name, blood is far from the only item supplied by Blood Bikes Wales.
While Martin has been a volunteer for more than a decade, he has increased his involvement since retiring in April this year. Speaking on the eve of a 12-hour shift, he described what he could expect in the day ahead: “Tomorrow I’m on the ‘milk run’, and that’s a very important part of what we do and my role is to get the donated milk to where it needs to be to help sick babies.
“For example, the other day we needed to get milk from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham to The Grange Hospital in Cwmbran. I met the rider from our blood bikes partner in the West Midlands at Ross-on-Wye and from there I took the supply on to its destination.
“Tomorrow could well be a similar sort of day. I have to make myself available during the 12-hour window to go wherever I’m needed. The shifts are co-ordinated via an app, and I tend to take on around two shifts per week, though we’re particularly busy at weekends when other means of transport the NHS uses are not so easily available.
“Getting supplies between hospitals quickly to treat sepsis is also a major part of our work, because it’s vital that people get the treatment they need quickly.”
Martin passed his Advanced Riding Test, which he says has helped him in his role with Blood Bikes Wales. He said: “A key point to get across is that we aren’t an emergency response team, so we have to follow the speed limits wherever we are and obey the rules of the road.
“Knowing how to ride quickly and safely in all weather and traffic conditions is important in this role.
“I often don’t know what supplies I’m carrying. I think back to January last year, where I had two supplies from the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital at the Heath in Cardiff which needed to be taken to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
“I went as far as Slough where I met the rider who went on to take it into London, but on the way back, the weather took a turn for the worse, the temperatures fell below zero and I got drenched.
“The regulations mean we’re not allowed to do our work in adverse weather conditions, but since I was already out, I was able to continue my journey home. Even though I arrived home cold and wet, I took tremendous comfort from knowing at least one sick child was being given much-needed medical supplies because of what I’d done,” he said.
Martin described how the shift controller plays a crucial role in the process. They work a six-hour shift and co-ordinate matters between hospitals: “I think back to one example a few years ago when a supply of some sort needed to go from Preston in Lancashire to Llandough Hospital. Three different blood bike groups were involved in the courier process, and that was overseen by the controller. The role they play is absolutely vital,” he said.
Without Blood Bikes Wales, a hospital might use an ambulance, pay a courier or even a taxi to complete the task, all of which impact on its service or cost money that could otherwise be spent on caring for patients. One such courier service in one health board is paid £2 per mile, and on that basis Blood Bikes Wales riders probably save the Welsh NHS around £1 million per year.
In the 2023-24 financial year, the Blood Bikes Wales fleet covered over 388,000 miles at no cost to the NHS, and since its inception in 2011, it has fulfilled nearly 40,000 jobs.
Blood Bikes Wales is always on the lookout for new riders, but others can also play their part by volunteering as a controller or fundraiser. Martin described the huge sense of personal fulfilment he gets from being a blood bike rider.
“Even on a wet or freezing cold day, I arrive home after a shift with a warm feeling inside. I might not know what I’ve been supplying, and I’ll probably never know the person who has benefitted from receiving it, but I do know that someone, somewhere may have had their life saved or received important medical treatment because I gave up a bit of my time.”
For further information, please visit: www.bloodbikes.wales/volunteer or email
raising awareness about Blood Bikes.
- Pencoed tangled up by ‘Seaweeds’
- Primary school’s former deputy head is banned from teaching
- I make no apologies for calling Plaid Cymru ‘separatists’
⭐ All of our social media in one handy place – here
Pencoed tangled up by ‘Seaweeds’
Primary school’s former deputy head is banned from teaching
I make no apologies for calling Plaid Cymru ‘separatists’
‘The importance of participation and continued learning’
Opposition leaders clash with First Minister over independence rally
How Kevin saved a stranger’s life
