April 2020 Newsletter

Thank you to all our friends at the NHS and Great North East Air Ambulance. To all key workers and volunteers and not forgetting the other emergency services, Police and Fire Brigade all working to protect us during this Covid 19 Pandemic #clapforcarers Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

TESCO Annfield Plain – 21.2.20 We have been really grateful to Tesco who have supported NBB by offering us the opportunity to collect at the door. This helps us to spread the word about the work that we do as well as to recruit new volunteers and fund raise. Many thanks to the Annfield Plain branch of Tesco who hosted us in February 2020. Our volunteers Dave and Gordon spent the day meeting shoppers and showing them around a blood bike. Our volunteer Tiger dropped in to top up supplies and a grand if windy day was had by all.

Thank you to the generosity of shoppers and staff we raised a fabulous ÂŁ279.58 just brilliant and thank you for your continued support Tesco.

Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle- Careers Day7.3.20 Volunteers Peter and Ruth attended the RVI Careers day event in March 2020. It is a great way to raise awareness of the work that our volunteers undertake and to recruit new people to NBB. We have many different roles and we hope something to offer everyone. If you are interested in volunteering please do get in touch www.northumbriabloodbikes.org.uk

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Marks and Spencer, Arnison Centre, Durham – 7.3.20 The M&S branch at the Arnison centre have invited us to fundraise at their store near Durham on several occasions.

Yet again our brilliant volunteer team of Steven, Eric and Eamonn have raised an outstanding amount totalling £1,310.86. Well done to everyone who donated, a brilliant total for NBB. Thankyou to M&S for the opportunity and also for the hot drinks too.

Morpeth Charity Events Team- Stannington- 7.3.20 A very Grand Jumble Sale was held in Stannington on 3rd March 2020.

This was organised by the ladies of the Morpeth Charity Events Team (formerly the Morpeth Branch of the NSPCC). A huge £1818.16 was raised from the event. What a great way to be green and recycle as well as raise money for charity. An incredible £909.08 was donated to NBB, with the same amount donated to the charity Pyjama Fairies. This must have been an amazing jumble sale. Well done everyone who worked so hard on the event and who purchased items and made donations.

Thank you to the Morpeth Charity Events Team for making a donation to us, this will go a long way.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Birthday and Charity Rock Night Fundraiser- 14.3.20 Once again, our amazing volunteers raise funds for NBB at their family celebrations. Our volunteer shift controller Ann celebrated her daughter’s birthday and also managed to coax some fabulous prizes from retailers for the raffle. We would like to thank every organisation that donated and those party goers who made donations on the night. The proceeds from the raffle raised a whopping £235. A massive thankyou to Ann and her family for the hard work and for sharing this special birthday with NBB. Amazing people who can do amazing things together.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Fundraising to watch out for and support We know of at least two exciting and challenging fundraising adventures that have been planned for this year. With the unexpected development of Covid19 and its devastating impact, we are waiting to hear if these fundraising events will go ahead. We did want to give the organisers a special mention and thank you for all of their efforts to date. We will of course report any updates as they come.

Benidorm or Bust Rally 2020 Three teams taking three cars on this 1500-mile challenge, to raise funds for NBB led by our volunteer Steve. Last year they raised ÂŁ1432.20 and everyone involved had a fabulous time.

All costs are paid by the people involved so that 100% of all funds raised go to NBB

If any organisation/company wants to offer sponsorship, please get in touch You can donate via our Virgin money giving page: https://uk.virginmoneygiving,com/Team/ NorthumbriaBloodBikesBOB2020

Rachel and Sarah’s 275 Kilometre Cycle Ride Sisters Rachel and Sarah have decided to support NBB by undertaking a 275km cycle ride from Porto to Santiago. They have been in training every weekend and have even had support from professional cyclist Sue Lindsey. They are new to getting on their bikes but are really enjoying the challenge.

Thank you for thinking of us Rachel and Sarah we wish you good luck.

You can donate via the sisters Virgin money giving page: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RachelMoore34

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Morpeth’s Fabulous Mayor Alison Byard The MAYOR’S FUND UPDATE

Morpeth’s fabulous Mayor Alison Byard continues to fly the NBB flag at her fundraising events. We were very lucky to be chosen as her Mayor’s Fund Charity of the year. The Mayoral challenge is to raise £15000 to fund a new blood bike and name it ‘Morpeth’. We are very grateful for her fantastic support and feel very privileged to work with her. Follow her Facebook page at: Alison Byard-Mayor of Morpeth

Northumberland Freemason’s December 2019 Northumberland Freemasons very generous cheque for £3,000 from Provincial Grand Master Ian Craigs donated to the Mayor’s Fund in December 2019. This is an amazing sum from this fraternal and charitable organisation.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Concert at King Edward VI School, Morpeth- 14.3.20 Our Volunteer Peter took a Blood Bike along to Alnwick to a concert at the King Edward VI (KEVI) school in Morpeth on 14.3.20. There were fabulous performances from the KEVI school steel band and the band of the Royal Fusiliers plus fantastic local singers. It was a grand night out and all proceeds were split between SSAFA the Armed Forces charity and NBB. The Mayor’s Fund contribution to NBB was a steely £350, how fantastic and a huge thank you to all of the amazing performers and donators.

You can see a video from the event on the Mayors Facebook page: Alison Byard-Mayor of Morpeth

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

HMRC- Cessation Department, Benton Park Road, North Tyneside- 3.2.20 A huge thank you the staff in the Cessation Dept at HMRC. We hope that they all won lovely prizes at their Xmas draw. They raised a fantastic £191.50 from the draw and donated it to NBB. Thank you to you all and we hope it wasn’t too taxing…

Northumbria Police- Ponteland HQ -8.2.20 It just goes to show that no matter how old we are we cannot resist the lure of the tuck shop. The staff at the Police HQ in Ponteland have generously donated £100 from the proceeds of their tuck shop to us. Thank you for sacrificing your waistlines to keep our blood bikes and cars on the road.

Here is our volunteer driver Gary collecting the donation cheque from these hardworking folks.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Stagecoach North-East Cheque presentation – 12.2.20 We were very fortunate to be asked for a second year, to be included in the Stagecoach Christmas Santa Bus event, held in Newcastle city centre during December 2019. They also very generously decided to donate funds raised to NBB and the Chronicle Sunshine Fund. Our rider Alex and driver Malcolm took along a car and bike to meet one of the Stagecoach fleet.

On 12.2.20 we were invited to attend the cheque presentation and we were thrilled to find they were donating a phenomenal £4,700 to us of the total funds raised of £9,400. We are very grateful for the hard work that they put in to making this event such a success and for continuing their support of NBB. Thank you to everyone who donated and enjoyed the Stagecoach North East Santa fun fest.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Sainsbury’s- Local Heroes donation-14.2.20

Sainsbury’s staff are able to vote for their favourite charities to be awarded up to £200 per year through their Local Heroes fund. They have given over 2 million pounds to worthy causes through this fund. A huge thanks to our NBB volunteer Malcolm who voted for us recently through the fund. We have been awarded the full £200 and we will put this to good use to keep our volunteers on the road, supporting the amazing work of the NHS.

Belmont Cheveley Park Primary school- 24.2.20 We were thrilled to be invited to the Belmont Cheveley Park Primary School, Durham on 24.2.20. We were pleased to be present for the school assembly and class discussions.

Our NBB driver Gordon had planned to take along a bike, as the children really love seeing the motorbikes up close, sadly it had snowed overnight, so Gordon took one of our blood cars.

The children had chosen NBB as their charity of the year and so far they have raised an amazing £500, so we really looked forward to spending some time with them and sharing with them how their hard raised funds would be spent.

A huge thank you to the children and staff and parents of the school, we look forward to visiting you again.

Volunteers, Volunteer and Fundraiser for NBB We would like to thank our volunteer David T. not only for giving up his time to support NBB but has also raised funds for, us via a birthday donation drive. He raised an incredible £108 in donations, but we do hope that he at least received a birthday cake for his endeavours. Thank you, David, family and friends.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Nissan Sunderland- Employees Council Charities Presentation21.2.20 A huge thank you to the employees of the Nissan Plant in Sunderland who continually raise funds for charities. We first received funding from them in 2013, before we even had a bike, car or uniforms. We were one of the twenty or so charities who were awarded funding at the event and we were given a huge £1000. We cannot thank you enough for helping us grow and providing funds that enable us to support the people across the North East. Thank you to our volunteer Peter, who was delighted to attend this heart -warming event and to Alan for proposing us as a worthy cause.

VW Corbett Lodge- Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes-Morpeth and District- 2.3.20 Our volunteer rider/driver Tiger was invited along to the RAOB in Bedlington on 2.3.20 and was presented with an outstanding donation of £1000.

We cannot thank this philanthropic RAOB Lodge enough for this donation. We need over £5000 per month to keep our volunteers on the road and every donation is used for this purpose. Thank you to all the Buffs and for all of the work you do to help others.

Northumbrian Water Facilities - 30.3.20 A very big thank you to Northumbrian Water Facilities for their fabulous donation of £285.00. Northumbrian water has been amazing in their support of NBB so every donation from them is another wonderful gift. Well done Jerry for popping in to visit them and thank them for the donation.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Donations of the chocolate kind Our riders and drivers are always surprised and delighted at the kindnesses that are often shown to them as they go about their duties on shift. Often there are small gestures that mean a great deal, such as a simple thank you for doing our volunteer work or a cheery wave as we pass by. The greater gift that we receive is the personal stories that often have us wiping a tear away, when family members thank us for being part of a loved one’s recovery. We can report that there are still coffees donated and our volunteers were so excited to find chocolate this Easter too! At this difficult time the generosity and kindness of the public continues to touch us, as we go about our volunteer work.

Private Donation- 25.4.2020 A huge thank you to Mr and Mrs Conroy for the very generous donation of ÂŁ100 and thank you so very much for thinking of us during this difficult time. Many thanks to our volunteer Ria for supporting us and arranging to make the kind donation on their behalf.

Dacca Hairdressers Thank you to Dacca Hairdressers in Washington for collecting the fantastic amount of ÂŁ51.00. Thanks to Judith our NBB volunteer for collecting the box for us.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Harrogate Tipple On 2.4.20 we collected a box of hand sanitizers from Harrogate Tipple. They are a family run business that have changed their production from gin to hand sanitiser to help protect front line service during this current situation. A huge thank you to them for helping us to add some additional protection to our volunteers.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Our Blood car arriving at the Alnorthumbria Veterinary Group

Meeting some of the two legged and four legged Alnorthumbria team

PPE Donation to the NHS from Alnorthumbria Vets Morpeth- 24.4.2020

On 24.4.2020 we collected PPE that had been donated by Alnorthumbria veterinary group in Morpeth. We were contacted by a family member of one of our volunteers, who works for the vet practice. Alnorthumbria Veterinary Group had collected their spare PPE and wanted to support the local NHS by donating it to them. Our Hospital Liaison Officer Sean collected the donation and delivered it to the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. A great bit of #TeamWork between all those involved and a big thank you to the staff at Alnorthumbria Veterinary Special Group.

Delivery for PPE safely on its way

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

the NHS a much needed PPE donation

Luka and Lexi and their mum wanted to thank us for the work that we do. We were thrilled to receive a lovely signed picture from them all as well as some very nice chocolate eggs!

Thank you to you all and for making the night of the volunteers that you presented them too. I think the shift controller was a little jealous that evening. But there were some very happy riders and drivers who kept going on their long 12-hour shift with a little bit of something sweet.

A huge thanks to Luka and Lexi and make sure you give us a wave when you see any of our riders or drivers out and about.

Thanks also to Lee for the chocolate bunnies that were hopping around the bonnet of the Blood Car. It’s a good job the volunteer driver saw them before he drove off!

Widows Sons Masonic Bikers Northumberland A huge thank you to the Widows Sons Masonic Bikers in Northumberland for the generous cheque for ÂŁ100 received 28.4.20 .We really appreciate the support, ride safe and thanks to volunteer Tom for its safe delivery to us.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Little boxes on the till side, little boxes made of sticky plastic……

Our volunteers were often out and about prior to the current restrictionsdropping off and picking up our NBB collection boxes.

It is amazing how much these little boxes raise for us. Thank you to all the shops, takeaways, pubs and schools that host them for us.

If you would like to host one, we would love to send it your way.

Just contact us via the website www.northumbriabloodbikes.org.uk Special thanks go to: Cross Keys Pub, Esh your tin contained £37.54- collected by volunteer Frank Northumberland College- your tin contained £28.77- collected by volunteer Neil Coastline Café, Blyth-your tin contained £38.38- collected by volunteer Ian Nissan Event Sunderland- your tin contained £55.40- event attended by volunteers Andrew and Chris Onestop Shop, Brunswick-your tin contained £24.00- collected by volunteer Tiger

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

BP- Funding Fuel A huge thank you to the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes (NABB), who approached BP Plc regarding their free fuel provision for emergency service vehicles.

BP Plc have very generously agreed that Blood Bike organisations registered with NABB will be entitled to free fuel at any BP petrol station.

We cannot thank BP enough as this will assist us to continue the delivery of services to our NHS and Great North East Air Ambulance partners

Thank You

BP

More info from BP Plc here: https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/ news-and-insights/press-releases/informationfor-uk-emergency-services-bp-customers-andpartners.html

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Other simple ways you can raise funds for us We wanted to make everyone aware of the different ways in which you can help NBB to raise funds that keep us on the road, supporting our remarkable NHS and Great North Air Ambulance Service colleagues.

EasyFundraising Raise free donations for NBB when you shop online Just start your online shopping first at easyfundraising, then shop as normal. The retailers will then make a small donation to your chosen charity to say “thank you” Register now at : https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/nbb/

Recycle Your Ink Cartridges with Recycle4Charity NBB gets a £1 donation and you are being kind to the Environment Did you know that you can help us raise funds simply by recycling your ink cartridges via the Recycle4Charity programme?

For each inkjet cartridge recycled via the programme we will receive a £1 donation, meaning you can help the environment whilst raising money for our charity!

Register now at – http:// www.recycle4charity.co.uk/Register/

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Help Us to Help Them During this very difficult time we are doing everything we can, to continue to support our fabulous NHS and Great North Air Ambulance Service partners. Our volunteers will be working Mon-Fri, 7pm to 7am and Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays 24/7. We will be taking blood and samples for testing, equipment and notes and a myriad of other essential items to hospitals in the region. We want to thank them all for the amazing work they do, by continuing our services.

To keep our volunteers safe, we will be restricting our public presence via our talks, fundraising ventures, raising awareness and pausing volunteer recruitment. This is also to comply with the Governments Covid 19 requirements. This does mean however that vital donations are not coming into our charity. We understand that many face uncertainties during this difficult pandemic however, should you wish to make a donation this can be made via: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/giving/ and then search for Northumbria Blood Bikes To keep NBB operating we need to bring in ÂŁ5500 per month. This covers fuel, radios, insurances, repairs, high viz jackets and also the minimal back office costs such as websites, software and IT equipment etc. None of our volunteers are paid to work for us and for some roles it is almost a full-time occupation. We are continuously humbled by our incredible volunteers, and the generosity of spirit and donations from our sponsors and the public.

Thank you for your support and please keep safe and well

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

3.2.20 at 7pm marked the sixth anniversary of our charity beginning operational service.

Since we began our volunteers have completed over 55,000 jobs and we are extremely proud of everything we have achieved during the past 6 years.

All of this is possible thanks to the support we receive from our donors, Patrons, service users, dedicated team of volunteers and of course you the public.

Thank you to everyone who has made it possible to reach this milestone! #ThankYou #MakeADifference #itswhatwedo #BloodBikes

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

WI- Greenside-3.2.20 Our volunteer speaker Carol undertook her first solo talk to the ladies of the Greenside Women’s institute on 3rd February 2020.

Congratulations Carol who was supported by volunteer rider Rob, who dropped in to show the ladies around one of our blood bikes. Many thanks for the kind donations from the collection tin of £25.50

CAER URFA- U3A- 6.2.20 We never stop learning and our volunteer speaker Nigel learned that Caer Urfa is the name given to South Shields by the Romans. He really enjoyed his talk with this great group and a huge thank you for the very kind and generous donations of £570.48

Prostate Cancer Group-12.2.20 Ian one of our volunteer speakers gave a talk to the Prostate Cancer Group in North Tyneside on 12.2.20. Many thanks for the invitation to attend this very important group and thank you for the generous donations of £62.90 Men We Are With You

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

RoSPA – Advanced Drivers-18.2.20 All of our volunteer riders and drivers must have passed an advanced driver/rider qualification to be able to use our fleet of vehicles. There are several organisations who run advanced qualifications and one is the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. Our volunteer speaker Carol gave a talk to their Advanced drivers recently. We hope we might encourage a few of them to join the NBB team. They kindly gave us donations of £47.70, so drive and ride safe folks.

Monday Club -St Barts Church Hall ,Forest Hall, North Tyneside – 5.3.20 Our volunteer speaker Alan had the pleasure of meeting with the Monday Club at Forest Hall in March this year. He was pleased to meet this fabulous group and our donation tin contained a fabulous £82.20. That’s enough to get a blood car two tanks of fuel keeping us on the road delivering samples and blood. Thank you.

Etherley Methodist Church- Charity Day- 14.3.20 Our volunteer speaker Peter received a very warm meeting at the Etherley Methodist Church Charity day on 14.3.20. Peter took along one of the BMW’s which, are new to the fleet, thanks to many other kind donations over the last year and some amazing fundraising.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Sadly, due to the impacts of Covid-19 we have suspended all volunteer applications. This is because we are unable to run our induction and training sessions and also our observation rides and drives and familiarisation and shadow shifts cannot take place. We have had a number of enquiries and hope that anyone interested will follow our updates on the website where any announcements will be made. www.northumbriabloodbikes.org.uk In the meantime, over the months we hope to offer a little insight into our volunteer roles

Spotlight on the Shift Controller As a Shift Controller, you are the point of contact for any NHS organisation that requires our service. You are the public face of the charity and as such, your approach needs to be friendly, attentive and efficient. The work entails taking out of hours calls from hospitals, and other NHS bodies, when they need our service. Some calls may be urgent, or even an emergency, so the caller’s details and requirements need to be recorded accurately, efficiently and effectively and passed to an operational unit (we operate motorcycles and cars). The Shift Controller decides, in a timely manner, which is the most appropriate unit to pass the call to, having regard for location, workload and capacity of each unit, and despatches that unit. Once “in flight� the Shift Controller supports the operational unit at all times, recording the progress of each job, and handles requests for information from the customer or other parties.

Shift Controllers work from home, or a base of their choice, and whilst it is not essential to be based in the North East, an excellent geographical knowledge of the area is essential, both to understand the unique requirements of the Group, but also to make the best use of our resources which change location every day.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Shift Controllers can be a shy breed but here are a few of ours caught in the act.

Do you have what it takes to be a Stupendous Shift Controller?

Requirements 1. Pleasant and business-like telephone manner 2. Good level of IT literacy 3. Have home (or other base) access to broadband internet (not pay as you go) and a telephone (mobile phones are fine, but we prefer a landline if the mobile reception is poor at your base location).

4. Access to a Web Browser on a desktop or laptop computer.

5. Able to cover two or more 6-hour shifts a month (weekday evening, overnight or weekend days) 6. Able to cover one average 6 shifts over a 3-month period.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

A Quick Q&A with a NBB Shift Controller -Bill Deacon What made you want to volunteer for NBB? Always wanted to but couldn’t due to work commitments.

What role/s do you undertake for NBB? Shift controller, Rider, Driver, Radio assistant How many shifts have you completed?

Around 40 What do you really enjoy about being a shift controller?

The fact that it gives me some flexibility in how I support NBB. Also, I can sit in my PJs with a cuppa whilst it’s cold outside What is the most challenging aspect of the role?

I think juggling the jobs so that a no one volunteer is overworked on the shift.

Where do you work from when you are on your 7-hour shift?

Spare bedroom or in the lounge if it’s a late shift Do you have any great tips or ideas for a new shift controller?

Be prepared at least 30 minutes early. Have your paperwork and your computer sorted before taking over the hospital line What about NBB would you recommend to others?

The selfless dedication of the volunteers to provide a service without shouting about it The feeling that you have helped someone even though you never know the outcome What’s your favourite shift refreshment and snack?

3 sausages with brown sauce when riding/driving shift. Cake and tea on controller shift Would you like to give a special shout out to anyone in NBB who has helped you or gone that extra mile to support you since you joined?

Debbie P. for her help when I became a controller and everyone I’ve shared a shift with for their dedication.

Many thanks Bill for giving your permission to use this and for your amazing work with NBB

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

A Quick Q&A with Shift Controller Joe Parkin What made you want to volunteer for NBB? I like to learn new things, and since retiring, it is something to keep me busy, and help others at the same time.

What role/s do you undertake for NBB? Controller, controller trainer, rider and driver.

What do you really enjoy about being a shift controller?

The challenge of dispatching efficiently, trying to give vehicles a circular path.

Have you had any funny moments on shift that you can tell us about?

The time I thought I lost the samples and the logging book. I parked at Nsech after picking a sample up at NTGH. I opened the pannier to find no sample, and no book. Remembering I put the sample on the rack along with the book, I wondered whether to go back to NTGH to see if it had dropped off the bike, or whether to phone committee. As you can imagine, I was ready to commit Hari-kari, when I went into the pannier on the other side, (you know, the one nobody uses because the bike leans over) and guess what it was there- PHEW! What is the most challenging aspect of the role?

Learning and teaching, that the shift controller has to make decisions when not everything is documented.

Where do you work from when you are on your 7-hour shift?

In the conservatory in my pj’s Do you have any great tips or ideas for new shift controllers?

Relax, even urgent jobs, you have an hour to pick it up, always, repeat what you have been told, as it serves as a check you have heard correctly. Best tip, ask, ask, ask.

What about NBB would you recommend to others?

The camaraderie of belonging to an organisation that actively helps others and is willing to help each other.

Would you like to give a special shout out to anyone in NBB who has helped you or gone that extra mile to support you since you joined?

This is a hard question, every shift I control, someone goes the extra mile, whether it is Derek H., or Paul C., or any of the BoB car drivers, happily going around the world after their shift, or the duty drivers/ riders staying on to complete urgent jobs. Any time I am not sure about something, there’s always a helpful voice on the other end of the radio

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

How does the application for Shift Controller proceed?

Induction and Training All of our volunteers must undertake an NBB induction and shift controller training course which is usually delivered on a Saturday. You can find out about our induction and training schedule from our website www.northumbriabloodbikes.org.uk Look under the events tab for the calendar.

Observation Sessions Once you have done the training then one of our shift controller support team will be in touch to help you with the ‘on the job’ training.

Usually you will be invited to observe the support shift controller during a live shift. Once you are feeling more confident, you will take over as shift controller and be observed. Our shift controller support team will assist you to build up your confidence until you are ready to go it alone. They are always around to help, and you will find that the riders and drivers on shift will be able to assist also you just need to ask.

Update on Badge Awards We are fortunate to be able to log all of our volunteers shifts and events booked. This has enabled us to set up an awards scheme for the recognition of work undertaken for NBB. The scheme currently has four tiers and awards are given out quarterly usually at our meetings

Bronze Award- for the completion of 25 shifts/events Silver Award- for the completion of 50 shifts/events Gold Award- for the completion of 100 shifts/events Red-Gold Award -for the completion of 200 shifts/events You will usually see these small awards badges adorning jackets and coats and now that you know all about them you can recognise how many shifts/events the volunteer has undertaken to support the NHS and the Great North Air Ambulance. There are only a few of the coveted Red-Gold awards out there but as the service enters its seventh year, we might have to consider adding more awards to celebrate the work of our incredible volunteers

During the period December 2019- March 2020 we were delighted to award: Quarter Dec 19 -Mar 20

BRONZE-25

SILVER-50

GOLD-100

2

7

6

Red-Gold200 0

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Gazebo Gazing Last year we decided to purchase some inflatable gazebos, ready for this year’s event season. They arrived in March ’20 but with the current situation they’re unlikely to get used this year. It seemed such a shame not to have a quick peek at them during the nice weather and give them at least one airing. We are looking forward to using them and seeing you all in the future.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

What a (Tax) Relief A huge thank you to the National Association of Blood Bikes (NABB) for pursuing this for all blood bike groups. From now all our fleet vehicles will be exempt from paying the annual vehicle road fund licence. This means that even more of your donations can be spent on helping the NHS and the Great North East Air Ambulance. This news couldn’t have come at a better time as the coronavirus impacts across the world.

Celebrating our NBB Volunteers The Northern Echo- 15.4.20 The Northern Echo ran an article on one of our volunteers in April 2020. It’s always great to see the work of our volunteers being highlighted. Thanks to The Northern Echo and also to all of our fabulous volunteers including John who you can read a little more in the article to the right.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Night Force Documentary 6.4.20 In April we were extremely excited to announce that NBB would feature in the ‘Night Force’ Documentary made by Matchlight Documentaries shown on BBC One, daily from 6.4.20 for two weeks at 11.45am.

In 2019 we were invited to be part of this new documentary featuring night workers across the North East. During the winter months the film makers followed our services. NBB are highlighted in the opening credit footage and feature in episode nine. If you have missed it, we hope you can find it on BBC iPlayer.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Motor Cycle News (MCN) Article April 2020- By Dan Sutherland- Senior Writer Huge thanks to MCN for their recent article go to the website link to see the article and any updates Fuelling the fightback: Blood Bikers get free BP fuel and VED scrapped UK Blood Bike charities have been given vital additional financial support, with Vehicle Excise Duty (road tax) on service vehicles now scrapped and free fuel across BP’s 1200-strong network of forecourts during the ongoing Coronavirus crisis.

The Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes (NABB) announced on April 1 that all service vehicles would now pay no VED, following a six-year battle to get all blood bikes, cars and 4x4s recognised as part of the NHSV (National Health Service Vehicle) tax class. The move will see the charities save an estimated collective £40,000 a year.

Elsewhere, the NABB also say they have reached an agreement with fuel giants, BP, which will see every Blood Biking charity across the UK receive free fuel at any of their pumps until at least the end of April.

"It’s an absolutely fantastic gesture, but it’s more than that," NABB Chairman, John Stepney, 61, told MCN. "All of our fund raising has stopped because it all relies on people congregating, so that avenue has dried up.

"If you don’t have fuel, you can’t run – it’s as simple as that," John continued. "It was such a good deal and we arranged it for not just the NABB groups, but all groups."

Operating free of charge across the UK, there are currently around 350 dedicated blood delivery vehicles on UK roads, with around 80% of those being motorcycles. In a bid to help combat Covid-19 many of these groups are now running 24/7 – delivering vital PPE equipment and virus samples, as well as their usual packages.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

The offer came following an earlier incentive of free fill-ups across the firm’s network to all police, fire, emergency NHS ambulances and NHS trust nonemergency vehicles, when using either a BP Plus or Allstar fuel card, which came into effect on March 21.

"At the end of the day, I'd like to think that BP is a good company, made up of good people, and good people want to help," BP chief executive, Bernard Looney, 49, told MCN. "The work that [the Blood Bikers] do - I think it's incredible," the former Honda CRB600 owner continued. "I wrote to my team and said: 'Some of us will have relied on this in our own lives and friends will have relied on this.

"There's a lot that we are trying to do and this is one of them. I'm just very grateful that we have people out there like the Blood Bikers, which I think are extraordinary and I never realised were volunteers!"

One of the charities making use of the donation is Northumbria Blood Bikes, who spend around £40,000 a year on fuelling vehicles their 13 bikes and six cars.

Speaking to MCN earlier today, publicity officer and trustee, Kirsty Lawrence, 31, said: "It was such a relief because – depending on how long this thing lasts – this year we are set to lose over £100,000 [in donations].

"The fact that we know our fuel cost is being taken away is such a relief because now we can concentrate on keep the fleet running," she added.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

"We are doing so many more miles on the road at the moment, so to have that fuel increase and then them cover it is brilliant."

Away from roadgoing machines, it was also announced BP would provide free jet fuel to the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, the Wales Air Ambulance Charity and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

As well as relying on donations to survive, these airborne lifesavers often play a vital role in serious motorcycle collisions.

Speaking about the donation, CEO of Air BP, Jon Platt, said: "We are pleased to be able to play a small part and support these emergency service organisations as they continue to provide a critical service to communities in these difficult times.

"Our commitment to safe, reliable fuelling operations remains unwavering and we’re grateful for the hard work of our front-line Air BP operators who continue to enable us to meet the needs of our customers."

MCN have approached BP for further comment on the Blood Biking offer and will update this story as it becomes available.

For updates to this article please check out the link below: https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/KQkvCVO6ASM538pSzzFNj? domain=motorcyclenews.com/ Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

And MCN also did further write ups for their newspaper publication in Early and Late April 2020 Thank you MCN for highlighting our work and the funding issues for charitable organisations during the Coronavirus pandemic A huge thank you also for celebrating the support from BP and the Zero Road Tax by the National Association of Blood Bikes.

Making a Difference in Washington In our last edition we thanked Sainsbury’s and our volunteer Malcolm for applying to the Sainsbury’s Local Heroes fund. We were grateful to be awarded a fab £200 to help us support the NHS and North East Air Ambulance.

NBB were delighted to be advised that Malcolm has also been recognised for his commitment to his job, the community and his volunteer work, by the CEO in the Sainsbury’s Newsletter.

Congratulations Malcolm and well deserved you always go the extra mile for NBB….. literally!

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Owen Kerry and Tesco to the Rescue During these unprecedented times we have called our newest editions to the fleet to assist us as support vehicles. They are being used to supply the rest of the fleet with equipment, to help keep our volunteers safe. They are not being put into active operational service at present, unless demand requires it.

Neither vehicle has had their official launch or naming yet, this was due to happen at Easter but we have had to cancel them now. Our grateful thanks go to Owen Kerry’s family and Tesco #BagsofHelp for their substantial donations that helped us to purchase the vehicles. Both were proud to give permission for them to be used to support the health services during this pandemic. We hope to arrange an official naming ceremony in the future to fully thank Owen Kerry’s family and the Tesco- Bags of Help campaign and celebrate the vehicles naming and commission.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Special Mentions Fred Henderson Ltd and BDS Motorcycles Ltd Our fleet manager Alan Johnson wanted to send a shout out to the two company’s that help to keep our fleet on the road year-round, come rain or snow or Covid 19. It is essential that our NBB charity continues to support the NHS during these particularly testing times. Luckily for us we have the help of the fabulous teams at Fred Henderson Ltd and BDS Motorcycles Ltd. We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to them both, for their hard work with our cars and bikes and for ensuring our volunteer riders and drivers can keep on the road undertaking our work free to the NHS and North East Air Ambulance.

Thanks both you are fabulous!

http://www.bdsmotorcycles.co.uk/our-work-with-northumbria-blood-bikes https://www.fredhendersonssangyong.com/

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

NBB PROUD TO BE SUPPORTING OUR

HEROES

Along with much of the country 8pm on Thursdays has become a special time when we can clap for our amazing carers and key workers. We were fortunate to catch our three volunteers on shift recently, as they joined the 8pm celebration of the nation’s keyworkers and carers.

Thankyou NHS, Key Workers and our other emergency services, police and fire brigade personnel, as well as the army of volunteers helping communities throughout the country, you are amazing!

We also include all of our NBB volunteers, every single one of you are supporting our amazing NHS and Care staff during this incredibly challenging time. #ItsWhatWeDo

#MakeADifference #TeamWork

#Bloodbikes

www.northumbriabloodbikes.org.uk

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Mindfulness and Competition Time Looking for something to keep the little ones busy or maybe you enjoy relaxing by colouring in. How about printing out these images of some of our fleet and then sharing your masterpieces with us when they're finished?

You can also find these templates on our Facebook page ‘Northumbria Blood Bikes’ in the photos section and on our website www.northumbriabloodbikes.org.uk

HAPPY COLOURING

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

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There are 16 words related to our work hidden in this grid can you find them?

Bike, Blood, Bobcar, Car, Charity, Donation, Driver, Fundraiser, Helicopter, NHS, Notes, Rider, Samples, Shiftcontroller, Speaker, Volunteer

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Can you spot the 5 differences between the 2 pictures below?

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Hidden talents Introducing the latest additions to our NBB fleet. You might be forgiven for thinking that these are photos of a couple of new vehicles for our use however they are both 1/43 scale. When he is not doing volunteer shifts for us, Chris can be found meticulously modelling.

These are his latest pieces with custom decals, fully working lightbar and lights and programmed electronics. It might take a little to long to travel between our hospitals in this but what amazing models. Watch out for orders Chris. Rumour has it that there may be an auction at some point in the future, watch this space and warm up your bidding paddles‌

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Chris Mann our Rota Manager has been busy over this period organising relay runs. These runs are a special service offered to the NHS that enables essential samples and breast milk for example to be delivered across the country.

Sometimes the end of the journey is in our region at other times we are passing on to another blood bike organisation that borders ours. Teamwork at its best and all free for the NHS by blood bike volunteers.

24.2.20 Relay-with Blood Bikes Scotland from the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh to Newcastle Trust Hospitals by our volunteer Alan 9.3.20 Relay with Blood Bikes Scotland from the Western General Hospital Edinburgh to Newcastle Trust Hospitals by our volunteer Debra 16.3.20 Relay with Blood Bikes Scotland from the Western General Hospital Edinburgh to Newcastle Trust Hospitals by our volunteer Jeff G. 23.3.20 Relay- Blood Bikes Scotland Western General Hospital- Edinburgh to Berwick, transfer to volunteer rider Peter, from NBB, then off to the Freeman HospitalProviding effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Newcastle 19.3.20- Relay with Blood Bikes Cumbria from Cumberland Infirmary to Newcastle Trust Hospitals by our volunteer Jeff G. 30.3.20– Our volunteer rider Jeff met with a volunteer from Blood Bikes Cumbria to pick up samples which had come from Cumberland Infirmary. Jeff O. then delivered them to the Biochemistry Lab at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle Trust Hospitals.

On 2.4.20 our volunteer rider Peter met with Dumfries & Galloway Blood Bikes to relay samples from Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary to the Freeman Hospital’s Biochemistry Lab. On 3.4.20, 8.4.20 and 15.4.20 our riders/drivers Laura,Jeff O and Peter met with Cumbria Blood Bikes to provide a relay samples from North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust to Newcastle Trust Hospitals.

On 6.4.20 and 20.4.20 Blood Bikes Scotland relayed samples from Western General Hospital, in Edinburgh, to our volunteer drivers Jeff G and Debra.

The samples were then transported to the Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle.

At 7pm on 9.4.2020 our NBB team began their 108 hours of Easter continuous service, bringing us right through to the morning of 14.4.20 . We started the Easter bank holiday weekend shortly before witnessing the #ClapforourCarers. As well as undertaking our usual jobs we were part of a 426-mile blood bike relay. Through the night of 9.4.20, four Blood Bike Groups relayed samples from the Western General Hospital, in Edinburgh, to John

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Smith Children’s Centre, in London. This successful relay involved the brilliant teamwork of Blood Bikes- Scotland, our volunteer Chris of Northumbria Blood Bikes, the WhiteknightsYorkshire Blood Bikes and Leicestershire & Rutland Blood Bikes.

During the nights of 23.4.20, 24.4.20 and 28.4.20 our volunteer drivers Chris and Jason took part in a relay which started at Bristol. The Freewheelers EVS began by collecting the blood samples from Bristol Children’s Hospital. They passed it along to Midland Freewheelers, who then rendezvoused with White Knights Yorkshire Blood Bikes. They then relayed it up to our NBB volunteer who delivered the blood samples to their final destination at the Freeman Hospital Newcastle.

Our volunteer Alan met up with EVS Cleveland and North Yorkshire, blood bike group to get a sample from the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to Newcastle Trust hospitals On 30.4.20 our volunteer Peter met up with Cumbria Blood Bikes to get samples from Cumbria University NHS Trust and deliver to Newcastle Hospital Trust.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Committee Messages Fund Raising Officer – Tiger (Laura) Taylor Please look at the new NBB lottery run by Northumberland Council. NBB get 50p from every £1 ticket sold and you might be in with a chance to win prizes worth up to 25k. 10p from every ticket sold also goes into a shared fund, so we also could benefit from this too. https://www.northumberlandlottery.co.uk/support/northumbria-blood-bikes Rota Manager- Chris Mann A continued thank you to our volunteers who are picking up all available shifts, to ensure we can give our full support to the NHS and North East Air Ambulance partners during this challenging time.

Between February and March 2020, we also completed six special relay runs working in partnership with other Blood Bike groups. Special thanks to our volunteer riders and drivers that took part in the six relay runs over the period, Alan, Debra, Jeff G, Jeff O, and Peter.

In April we completed 12 relay runs. We were involved in five long relay runs during April 2020. We worked with Blood Bikes Scotland, White KnightsYorkshire Blood Bikes, Dumfries and Galloway Blood Bikes, Freewheelers Blood Bikes- Bristol, Freewheelers Blood Bikes Midlands, Cumbria Blood Bikes, EVS Cleveland and North Yorkshire, and Leicester and Rutland Blood Bikes. All together we relayed urgent samples the breadth and length (almost) of the country. Many thanks to our drivers/riders that took part at short notice to ensure these urgent products and samples reached their destinations safely.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Hospital Liaison- Sean Storey We continue to work closely with our NHS partners and the North East Air Ambulance to provide support to them during thus challenging time. In response to need we have introduced a new hourly service between the Newcastle Hospitals to support them with the Covid-19 testing.

Please see tables on next page for the data related to the number of jobs undertaken for January-March 2020 for the NHS and free by our volunteer NBB drivers and riders.

Fleet Manager—Alan Johnson

Since the COVID19 lock down on the 23rd March and increased demand on our fleet, we have had a few challenges keeping the vehicles on the road.

We are therefore immensely grateful of the support from our local garages BDS Motorcycles, Fred Henderson and National Bike Tyre's for helping keep us on the road.

This support from local business on top of the free fuel supply from BP has allowed us to continue to provide our free service to the NHS. It is also nice to see support from other industries who have diversified to help front line services, I had the pleasure of meeting one of these business who have such changed from producing Gin to Hand Sanitiser, thank you to Harrogate Tipple for your support.

Lastly I would also like to thank all the fleet assistants and other volunteers for answering my call for help with moving vehicles for serving, tyre replacement and restocking gloves or hand wipes.

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Trust

Jan 2020 Number of jobs

Newcastle Northumbria Gateshead/South Tyneside County Durham and Darlington BoB Relay Corbridge Medical

382 367 47

Total number of jobs

1025

Trust

87 58 58 26

Feb 2020 Number of jobs

Newcastle Northumbria Gateshead/South Tyneside County Durham and Darlington BoB Relay Corbridge Medical

326 269 36

Total number of jobs

883

91 56 51 24

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689

Providing effective and timely transportation of essential blood and medical products Registered Charity Number 1166689