In response to an appeal by local charity ‘North West Blood Bikes’ (NWBB) for help in replacing their ageing fleet of motorbikes, Freemasons from West Lancashire were swift to respond.

Their own local West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity (WLFC) were delighted to be able to present two, brand new BMW R1200RT-P motorbikes, complete with all the necessary additional equipment, to enable this purely voluntary organisation to continue supporting our local hospitals and NHS.

The bikes are a common sight as they speed between Ormskirk and Southport hospitals, and the leader of the West Lancashire Freemasons, Provincial Grand Master Tony Harrison, visited the NWBB headquarters at Preston to officially hand over the two new bikes which were purchased and equipped by the Freemasons at a cost of £40,000.

Joining him at the presentation were two additional senior Masons, Assistant Provincial Grand Masters David Winder and Kevin Poynton, along with Steve Kayne (CEO of the West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity).

Welcoming them to the North West Blood Bikes (NWBB) headquarters at Bamber Bridge were NWBB Chairman Paul Brooks, vice chairman Lee Townsend, fleet manager Simon Hanson and the area manager Martin Walsh.

The motorbikes have been built to a specification that is, effectively, the same as that for police vehicles. The only difference is that the Blood Bikes are fitted with a special carrying rack to transport medical items and the paintwork is orange rather than the standard police blue. In addition, the bikes carry the logo and coat of arms of the West Lancashire Freemasons’, acknowledging their sponsorship.

In officially handing over the two vehicles, Tony Harrison said that he was delighted, on behalf of the Freemasons in West Lancashire, to be able to present these motorbikes to North West Blood Bikes as they will help them in the vital role they play in supporting the NHS in their work and be of immense benefit to the local community.

In his response, Simon Hanson said that as fleet manager, he had been working with Honda, BMW, multiple charities and local businesses to seek support in replacing the existing fleet of 12 NWBB liveried motorbikes. He commented that most of those vehicles had already covered over 80,000 miles and in some cases were over eight years old.

“This is an incredibly generous donation by West Lancashire Freemasons and goes a long way to help us in continuing to provide our essential support to the local hospitals and NHS,” he added.

On presenting Tony Harrison with a certificate of thanks, NWBB Chairman Paul Brooks further explained: “We are extremely grateful for the support we receive from all our sponsors, but it is especially gratifying to receive these two wonderful bikes from the Freemasons, as we also have so many local Freemasons who also donate their time as volunteer riders for our charity.”

North West Blood Bikes is a non-profit making charity, run entirely by their 350 volunteers. They provide an emergency transport service for the local NHS outside of normal working hours, usually on weekday evenings and over weekends.

Using a combination of members cars, motorbikes and the ‘official liveried’ bikes, North West Blood Bikes provide a voluntary out of hours transport for urgent and emergency blood, blood derivatives, samples, donor breast milk for premature babies, doctor’s notes, and theatre equipment – in fact anything that can be carried by motorcycle, between hospitals. On average, NWBB responds to some 1,000 calls per month for its services and has five bases covering the whole of the area with two liveried motorbikes located in each base and 3 in the north.

To learn more about the work of the NWBB, click here: North West Blood Bikes

This is an outstanding story and in my eyes a massive credit to the organisations involved. That's a pretty Grand powerful pic of a well attired gentleman confidently Mastering a pretty cool machine.

Originally Posted by MICK/GILLY

This is an outstanding story and in my eyes a massive credit to the organisations involved. That's a pretty Grand powerful pic of a well attired gentleman confidently Mastering a pretty cool machine.

Can't imagine how a Freemason could end up being able to handle a police bike with confidence.🙂

You can tell by his riding position and his smile that biking is not new to him. He is on the bike in 2 of the pics and looks to be in his element I bet it took them half a day to get him off it.
Anyway as cool and commanding as he looks its probably best to wear a helmet or risk the thrill of seeing the blood bikes first hand.