AVA Magazine: July 22
Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action Magazine - July 2022
Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action Magazine - July 2022
- No tags were found...
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
24 <strong>AVA</strong> | <strong>July</strong> 20<strong>22</strong><br />
NERVS|North East Rider Volunteers<br />
Scotland<br />
NERVS is North East Rider Volunteers Scotland. We are what’s<br />
known in the UK as a ‘Blood Bike’ charity providing a free<br />
motorcycle courier service. There are many Blood Bike<br />
groups around the UK and they can trace their origins back to the<br />
early 1960’s in the London area. Original groups were part of EVS<br />
(emergency volunteer service) and their motorcycles were really<br />
useful for transporting small items through congested city traffic.<br />
The National Association of Blood Biles (NABB) was formed in 2008<br />
to represent these groups and provide common standards for<br />
provision of the service. NABB now has over 40 members across<br />
the UK and Norther Ireland.<br />
Gavin Bell,<br />
Treasurer, North East<br />
Rider Volunteers<br />
Scotland (NERVS)<br />
NERVS formed in 2018 and we provide a free courier service<br />
for the NHS and other health related not-for-profit organisations<br />
throughout Grampian. We are based in Dyce and have 3<br />
motorcycles, 2 cars and around 100 volunteer members. Grampian<br />
weather is not too kind to all-year motorcycling so we use the cars<br />
when it’s just too cold and wet for the bikes to operate safely.<br />
We transport medicines, medical samples, surgical instruments,<br />
human donor milk and many other clinical products. We are<br />
staffed by unpaid volunteers, who provide this service to the NHS<br />
free of charge. We also work with other charitable organisations<br />
such as The Human Milk Foundation for transporting donor milk<br />
used to treat babies that may be in intensive care or Air Ambulance<br />
charities for both routine and urgent medical supplies.<br />
In 2020/21 we completed over 1300 jobs or deliveries. This year<br />
we haven’t been so busy. At the height of the COVID pandemic<br />
we supported a local charity, AberNecessities, who were<br />
overwhelmed with demand and needed urgent assistance with<br />
their deliveries. We used our own vehicles for this and supplied<br />
drivers for AberNesessities own vehicles. This significantly increased<br />
our workload. In 20<strong>22</strong> however, COVID restrictions have impacted<br />
our core activity levels so we are not as busy as that now. We<br />
have been issued with a stock of blood oxygen analysers (COVID<br />
O2 monitors) which we then deliver to patients isolating in their<br />
own home and we also regularly carry medical samples from<br />
around Grampian to the medical laboratories at Aberdeen Royal<br />
Infirmary (e.g. blood samples for analysis at the haematology lab).<br />
But we have capacity to do more. Could we help you with<br />
something? Give us a shout and ask. We can’t do everything and<br />
the package has to fit on the back of a bike, but if you don’t ask<br />
you won’t know if you can benefit from our efficient and friendly<br />
service.<br />
North East Rider Volunteers Scotland (NERVS) Kirkhill Industrial<br />
Estate, Dyce, Aberdeen, AB21 0GL<br />
Website: www.nervs.org.uk E-mail: info@nervs.org.uk<br />
You can also support our good work with a donation<br />
- find the donation link on our website.
Change language