Today Wessex are going to the seaside

[BobWessex]

http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Emergency-teams-come-showcase-teamwork/article-2527829-detail/article.html

[Pete Hallett]

looks like it should be good, would love to pop along but i am on paternity at the moment; wife might get upset :D Have fun and hope all goes well. Looking forward to some photos.

[BobWessex]

To be honest we didn't have time to take photos but hopefully cemented some contacts with freewheelers ( bloodbikes) The coastguard, Avon & Somerset Cliff Rescue etc.

Burnham on Sea.com (http://burnham-on-sea.com/news/2010/escape-day-review-15-08-10.php) has a write up and mentions us in passing, quite reasonably as sponsors of the rescue hovercraft they do concentrate on BARB, -- for our colleagues ouside of Somerset the main purpose of the event is to raise funds for the Hovercraft but it also seems to work as a chance for all sorts of Emergency Voluntary Agencies to meet up.

[Darmain]

That interesting about the Bloodbikes as I work with one of thier volunteries. I will undoubtidly find out tomorrow if he was at Burnham today. He is well aware of W4x4R and has mentioned in the past where FreeWheelers have had to resort to 4x4 vehicals when the weather was too bad for bikes or normal cars. He is always tin rattling at work for Freewheelers and regularly brings the bike in, most recently bringing in their brand new BMW bike. It would be great if we can assist these guys, they do a good service.

[BobWessex]

Hi Dave,

We already do work with them mate, (least ways Bristol & Yeovil groups via Avon & Somerset LRF) we took a couple of jobs off them in the snow last winter.

The general rule of thumb is that if it isn't safe to ride then they will suggest that the User service; in their case usually the Hospital/ Ambulance service; calls us.

[Darmain]

Hi Bob,

That's strange, he never mentioned that before. I'll have to enquire....

I've had several good chats with him, mainly on the arrangements of call outs during work. As he works on a rota basis then he is normally "on duty" out of work time. He has only once had to slink in the door slightly late one morning after a busy night.

He's always busy fund raising and there are normally donation tins to be found in reception, in the canteen and alike, so FreeWheelers are very well known within the company.

Whenever there are any fund raising events at work and a shout goes out for suggestions for which charity to donate the funds then he has long ago stole the floor. Of course, I suggest W4x4R but as you can imagine we don't get a look-in. I will do my bit to get some cash our way, but in some ways I feel a bit akward to be russling in the FreeWheeler patch...... Still, suppose its up to the choice of the individual donator at the end of the day.

I haven't yet made it common knowledge at work about my role in W4x4R. Obviously the management know and have given me their support. Some will have spotted the signage on the car, and the sprouting light fittings, including the dual rotor warning light that went on yesterday. However, this may not mean much to the majority. We have a monthly newletter, which include social and out-of-work news. I feel a write-up coming on...

[BobWessex]

Hi Dave,

when you say he is a member of freewhelers, which group is he a member of?

I don't know if any Wiltshire groups are in VASEC; you would need to check with Alan. (VASEC is the voluntary agencies subgroup of Wiltshire LRF)

Certainly I would like to hope that not only their 'duty controller' but also the hospital / Ambulance service would look at the appropriateness of calling them in adverse conditions simply because of their duty of care.

Having said that I wouldn't necessarily expect their general members or fund raisers to know the skills and capabilities of other LRF voluntarily agencies. Likewise it is very difficult for front line officers in the Bliue light services to know just what is available to them.

To give an example the folowing were represented at the last SEVAG meeting -( SEVAG = Somerset Emergency Voluntary Agencies Group, a subgroup of Avon & Somerset LRF)

WRVS
British Red Cross
Yeovil Freewheelers EVS
St John Ambulance
Burnham Area Rescue Boat/Hovercraft
Wessex 4 x 4 Response
Samaritans
Lions
Salvation Army
South Somerset District Council
Somerset Local Authorities Civil Contingencies Unit
Avon & Somerset Police

Faith Communities Response

Normally we also have
RAYNET
Avon & Somerset Cliff Rescue
etc.

Re the write-up in the staff magazine it's well worth getting something in when you can; I did that when we had the snow last winter. Also if they are giving support to other events it might be worth seeing if we can assist in any way.

Don't forget we have had a number of letters from all sorts of organisations including the last Secretary of state for Local Government, which can be used to publicise us.

Even if you only raise £10 it's £10 more than we had before

[Tony Ferrari]

Is it possible that he is a member of SERV (http://www.serv.org.uk/) rather than Freewheelers EVS? I know they are currently setting up a group in Wiltshire

We work with the Herts & Beds branch of SERV and backed them up in the snow, although had no actual callouts. We work a bit differently in that we provided a list of drivers each night that the SERV controller could call direct to transport their riders. Aparently NBTS round here won't let you carry the blood unless you have been "trained".

[BobWessex]

I also happen to know that SERV & Freewheelers are looking to base a National Network on an organisation that we all know well.

Also just realised Dave said Bloodbikes not Freewheelers -- could well be SERV.

[Tony Ferrari]

SERV also go under the title of "BloodRunners" which is close enough.

Actually they nicked that title from The EVS, who set up shortly before them in East London (The North East Thames Emergency Voluntary Service to give them their full title). The EVS in turn had copied it from a cartoon series of the same title by a chap called Andy Sparrow that ran in "Bike" Magazine. However they did seek permission to use it from Andy and as a result the EVS's unofficial T-Shirt featured a cartoon of his. Unofficial because it featured a character called Jack Sh*t ;). Actually the cartoon series tended to include a lot of anti-police, anti-government sentiments, not to mention lots of drug taking, so by neccessity the connection stayed unofficial as I'm not sure the NHS would have appreciated it at the time.

Sadly the EVS folded in 1999 due to changes in the NHS in London and the sale of their base at Langthorne Hospital in Leytonstone for a housing development.

And how do I know this, well during the 1980's the EVS had a secretary by the name of Ferrari! :D

[BobWessex]

Freewheelers still use EVS as part of their name so I guess it still survives in a way

[Darmain]

Sorry for the confusion. He definately rides for the Freewheelers. I will ask him the details of his group. I know he has reported in the past in working in the Bath and Frome area, if that gives any clues. I would have thought it would be the same group that you have been dealing with Bob.

[Tony Ferrari]

Actually I was surprised to learn there are five different Freewheelers Groups and seven "Blood Bike" groups altogether.

I think the relevant one here could be Freewheelers EVS as they cover parts of Wiltshire and Bath and Frome come in their area and they have a BMW on their fleet. Freewheelers EVS and Yeovil Freewheelers EVS appear to be separate groups?

I discovered this http://www.bloodbikes.org.uk/ which seems to be the national organisation that Bob mentioned, it shows there are six blood bike groups in the association. Interestingly the Yeovil bunch have no links from the site but are shown on the coverage map (below)?

The others are:

Dorset Freewheelers (http://www.4x4response.info/www.dorsetfreewheelers.co.uk) (Dorset)

Freewheelers EVS (http://www.freewheelers.org.uk/) (Bristol, Bath, North Somerset, parts of Wiltshire )

Midland Freewheelers (http://www.midlandfreewheelers.co.uk/) (West Midlands)

SERV (http://www.4x4response.info/www.serv.org.uk) (Essex, Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Hampshire)

Severn Freewheelers (http://www.4x4response.info/www.severnfreewheelers.co.uk) (Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, parts of Wiltshire)

White Nights EVS (http://www.whiteknightsevs.org/) (Yorkshire - Leeds, Huddersfield and York)


Might be some links to be had for the various 4x4 Response Groups?

Although I would mention that they are very touchy about the subject of claiming for mileage. Whereas it is an accepted thing for us, Blood Bike groups all operate their services for free, last winter our agreement with SERV Herts and Beds was brokered by Stephen from BHC and it took him a lot of effort to get them to accept that driving to a volunteers house (as far apart as Bedfordshire or North London) then taking them to Colindale (North West London) to collect blood, then drive to Bedford Hospital for instance, then return the volunteer home and finally drive home themselves in a 4x4 in heavy snow, might use a wee bit more fuel than a motorbike.

As it was Hertfordshire got most of the requests and I think most of my members on call would have offered their services for free but this was a personal decision on their part. As some people were out of work at the time it would have represented a huge commitment on their part. So something to be aware of.

[BobWessex]

Hi Dave, sounds like the Mendips team.

As Tony says they don't claim milage BUT they spend an awful lot of time fundraising, I know that both teams in Somerset look at a budget of over £25,000 per year.

Frankly if we could raise that level of funds then we could look at not charging. However I honestly think that what we charge (any of the groups) is by no means unreasonable.

By working it that the user body calls us and not the bloodbikes then there is no issue as we already work for the NHS Primary trusts and Ambulance . It is simply a case of switching from carrying personnel to carrying 'goods'.

As Tony says, the two groups operating in Somerset are separate but work together Yeovil Freewheelers mainly serves Yeovil Hospital and its satellite premises i.e. community hospitals GP surgeries etc.

[Darmain]

Hi Chaps,

As it happens the fire alarm went off this afternoon and I found myself stood next to our man in the carpark. He rides for Freewheelers EVS, specifically the Bath bike or, I believe its known know as the Mendip East bike. He knew about the event on Sunday but did not attend due to other commitments. He certainly knows about us, but not about us helping FreeWheelers out. He did receive a message at some point in the past to ask if any riders also had a 4x4 to use in the event of bad weather etc. He drives a Citroen C3, so I think that means "No".

On another note, I have entered into discussion with the editor of the company news letter with regards to an artical about what I'm now involved with. Can't do any harm. I borrowed the "What is 4x4 response?" statement off the Wessex website as the basis of my description of what it was all about, then added some of my own words. There are several 4x4 owners in the company so who knows, we might find another member among them.

[BobWessex]

All is revealed.

Yeap I get on very well with his Chairman who lives at Cheddar.