Voulunteering as a Blood biker?

[b1k3rdude]

So flicking through a few of AnyManCam videos, I cam across one where he did a ride out with his step dad who is a Blood Bike rider.

I immediately thought Ive been stuck at home for last few months,  partly due to Covid-19 and being between work contracts and I could potentially do this to help out but there is one obstacle to overcome. And that is that even though I have been riding for 20yrs I would need an Advanced riding qualification, eg IAM Green Badge, RoSPA Advanced, DVSA Enhanced Rider or Police Class 1, any of which must have been RENEWED within last 3 years. 

Does anyone on here do this and if so which of the above course's was the most cost effective?

[Grahamm]

I don't know about the others, but IAM have only recently started On Road training again, so you may find it difficult to get an Observer as they'll probably be catching up with everyone who has missed out during the Lockdown.

To join IAM it's £149 (IIRC) including the cost of your Test Fee, plus you'll need to join your local group.

[BBROWN1664]

I joined the IAM about 30 years ago when I took my car test with them. I did go along to a local bike group and went on a couple of their ride outs with a view to doing the test but found them to be a buch of old farts (other groups will be different) that did not really follow the IAM principles of riding safe and making progress (within the limit). Instead they were more worried about where their next cup of tea was coming from. Needless to say, I didnt learn anything new from them in the couple of ride outs I could go on then kids an weather stopped me going again.

Good luck helping with a good cause though if you can.

[b1k3rdude]

To join IAM it's £149 (IIRC) including the cost of your Test Fee, plus you'll need to join your local group.

And I assume that joining the local group would also incur a fee?

[fazersharp]

I looked in to it also a few years back and came across the same issues, also if I remember right you had to buy and fit your own rack / box system which would be permanent on your bike.

[Gnasher]

Did IAM years ago.  Like BBrown I got fed up with old gits and their constant pissing contests which each other and anyone who just might steal their thunder or could possible ride better than them.   

Like many clubs, I find there's always this cohort of old gits who just won't let go and run things into the ground, with their utter refusal to accept things move on and if you don't move with it, you die!   

Add the fact the IAM and many others, are just businesses nowadays, it's all just about money, i.e you've got to be reassessed and it costs..................   



 

[fazersharp]

I don't get why the insistence by the blood bike people for advanced tests, I get it that they do not want to actually add customers for the blood. What's the problem with - say 5 years experience and over or something. Its one thing offering your time for free but to volunteer you actually have to pay out. What other volunteering opportunities are there where it costs you to help.

[Middy2000]

In the Lincs area the threshold is lower.  You need I think 2 years experience.


What's more is they give you the bike for the time you are on call, and all the appropriate weather gear. 


No requirement to be member of any advanced group or qualification. 

[Dudeofrude]

In the Lincs area the threshold is lower.  You need I think 2 years experience.


What's more is they give you the bike for the time you are on call, and all the appropriate weather gear. 


No requirement to be member of any advanced group or qualification.

I didnt know that? I live the in the Lincs area and looked st this a few years ago but as has been mentioned I thought I need advanced qualifications and a certain bike etc
If thats not the case I'd be more than willing to sign up 🤔

[BBROWN1664]

Add the fact the IAM and many others, are just businesses nowadays, it's all just about money, i.e you've got to be reassessed and it costs..................   

I have never had to be re-assessed on the car side and still pay my £20 a year membership just in case they come up with a good deal jut never bothered getting my "green" card to match the "red" one.

[BBROWN1664]

What's more is they give you the bike for the time you are on call, and all the appropriate weather gear. 

Some areas you have to provide your own bike initially but then after a number of years they put you through the blue light course and lend you the marked up bike when on call. Other areas do not have a blue light bike.

[Gnasher]

I have never had to be re-assessed on the car side and still pay my £20 a year membership just in case they come up with a good deal jut never bothered getting my "green" card to match the "red" one.

Standard membership I didn't have to, in my day either, not sure about assessor or instructor back then.  I've no idea now b1k3rdude seems to think you do now, as he's research is normally on the money.

The issues for me, was just like you old gits!  They wouldn't let anyone get to that level in the club, who they didn't know or was part of their click!

[fazersharp]

What's more is they give you the bike for the time you are on call, and all the appropriate weather gear. 

Some areas you have to provide your own bike initially but then after a number of years they put you through the blue light course and lend you the marked up bike when on call. Other areas do not have a blue light bike.

Just a reminder to people althought you get a blue light bike (as far as I was aware ) you are not allowed to use them and they are just for show but do get peoples attention evn when not on.

[b1k3rdude]

although you get a blue light bike (as far as I was aware ) you are not allowed to use them and they are just for show but do get peoples attention even when not on.

Why would BB waste thier & money time putting you on a course to get said bike and then not let you use it.

b1k3rdude seems to think you do now, as he's research is normally on the money.

I got the info direct from Bed & herts BB website, but other regions maybe different. Regarding IAM, I had a sneaking suspicion that might be the case with them.

I'm all for volunteering my own time and covering my food costs, but using my own bike and covering fuel costs is a non-starter. So have pinged my local BB to get the info on this.

[dazza]

Volunteer Blood Biker found not guilty of breaking the lawnine months after incident he was stopped by MPC Oliver on the A38 in October 2017

- https://www.visordown.com/news/general/volunteer-blood-biker-found-not-guilty-nine-months-after-incident

[edit - @dazza, I had to clean up your post because it was unreadable. What was the context of your post?, as you didnt comment.]

[Gnasher]

Why would BB waste thier & money time putting you on a course to get said bike and then not let you use it.

They won't only the emergency services that includes, BTP, EOD, all military police, are permitted to use blue lights, speed, run traffic lights, but legally only when the call is an emergency. 


Blood deliveries aren't emergency services, if they need it that fast they would give it to the police or fly it.  That said it's up to the police officer at the time or camera and/or a court.     

[fazersharp]

Why would BB waste thier & money time putting you on a course to get said bike and then not let you use it.

Perhaps you could ask them.
Maybe its my local one from memory you use your own bike own fuel -buy and fit a specialised carrier at your cost, be a member of IAM and you only get to use the BB bike if you can commit to a lot of hours AND although it has blue lights it is only for show, don't remember anything about going on a blue light course - maybe that's why you cant use them. 

Looks like each area has there own rules. It shouldn't be such hard work and cost to volunteer. Like I said I tried and just ended up thinking "Oh FOC it then " 

Just checked my local one and now you only use their bikes - which is an improvement.

[b1k3rdude]

Blood deliveries aren't emergency services, if they need it that fast they would give it to the police or fly it.  That said it's up to the police officer at the time or camera and/or a court.   

I did wonder what was meant by the term 'blue bikes', I didn't realize it was in reference to blue and two's. But it seems some bikes do get them, as per the  following vid from 2016, are only allowed to use them in exceptional circumstances and even then only when authorized.

[b1k3rdude]

Some areas you have to provide your own bike initially

And so does bed & herts as I have just found out, you use your own bike, pay for your petrol. And it also look like you need to have a rack mounted to the bike.

Also Members must declare their intention to use their vehicle(s) for SERV operations to their insurance provider. Most have no problem with this as it is not considered to be for hire or reward, although some will ask that you take out business use cover or to include ‘Charity Use’. But in my exp. insure co. are more than not, arseholes and will increase my premium.
And then there is a section in the attached doc about liability which is understandable but concerning, if you have accident your essentially on your own -

SERV Herts & Beds and its Trustees and personnel shall not be liable in any way for the loss of any consignment nor for delays in delivery. Outside the site(s) owned by a Trust, it shall not be liable for any injury to any SERV Herts & Beds Rider/Driver, nor for any damage to a vehicle.

[Grahamm]

And I assume that joining the local group would also incur a fee?

Yes, my local group is (I think) about £22 a year.

But you also get to go to Club Nights, join Group Rides and participate in other group events.

[Grahamm]

Also Members must declare their intention to use their vehicle(s) for SERV operations to their insurance provider.

[...]

But in my exp. insure co. are more than not, arseholes and will increase my premium.

I get my insurance through Cornmarket who are affiliated with the IAM and their insurance includes Class 1 Business Use because it covers Observers' rides.

[Grahamm]

if I remember right you had to buy and fit your own rack / box system hich would be permanent on your bike.

SERV Wessex down here have vehicles which riders/ drivers can use if they don't want to us their own vehicles: https://servwessex.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=137&Itemid=471

[b1k3rdude]

I wont be going any further with this myself. I appreciate that it is a charity but I can't reconcile the requirements and the lack of legal cover for my bike or my person with SERV Beds&Herts. I can only guess thats because the SE (herts in particular) is a wealthier part of the country, that the rules/requirements are so strikingly different between regions.

[Gnasher]

I wont be going any further with this myself. I appreciate that it is a charity but I can't reconcile the requirements and the lack of legal cover for my bike or my person with SERV Beds&Herts. I can only guess thats because the SE (herts in particular) is a wealthier part of the country, that the rules/requirements are so strikingly different between regions.

Old boy network, mate.  I looked at this years ago when I lived in that area, most were ex police and/or senior IAM bike assessors/instructors etc, think you're find it's much the same for the south and south East.  Sad but true. 

[Ben Diesel]

Bit of a ramble to follow - but stay with me if you can.

I volunteer as a Bloodrunner, I've been doing this since 2013. I do between 2 and 4 nights per month on call between 7pm and 6am, and a few daytime shouts at the weekends. The reason I do it is because thanks to the unselfish people who, back in 1984, donated blood for the benefit of others, one of my daughters survived severe illness in the early weeks of her life and is alive today. Her way of giving something back is by realising her own personal ambition to become a neo-natal paediatric nurse. Mine is to donate my own blood; and to give some of my time free of charge to the NHS Blood and Transplant Service by being a Bloodrunner.

In the region I cover, there are 120 volunteers. There's a long list of people waiting to get on board. We have a fleet of three vans and nine liveried bikes with racks fitted which any volunteer can borrow to use for duty. No blues and twos, but plenty of reflective stuff. Each bike is owned and insured by the charity, and its fuel and maintenance is paid for by the charity. In addition, we need to raise more than enough funds each year to replace two ageing bikes on the fleet with new FJR1300s - at a cost of about £30k.

Most volunteers however, use their own vehicles and bikes for duty; whereby we pay for our own fuel, insurance, tax, maintenance etc. All I needed to do was make my insurance company aware that I was a volunteer Bloodrunner. No additional insurance cost - in fact, the IAM qualification got me a premium discount at renewal this year. I have a rack which takes five minutes to fit, and to remove, from my own bike (FJR1300). There is no permanent alteration to the standard bike. 

The IAM or RoSPA advanced rider qualification is to become a mandatory requirement in our region, for reasons of risk mitigation. The charity's insurers have become more risk averse in this increasing 'litigation chasing' culture, so the liability cover and charity-owned vehicle insurance cover costs more.  Same principle applies if you want to organise a school fete or a fun run - it costs more to insure nowadays unless you mitigate the risks.

The charity announced in June 2019 that serving volunteer riders without the advanced qualification, would have until 31 December 2020 (18 months) to pass the test; after which date anyone without it would not be able to continue to ride as a volunteer. We were given the choice to either train and test, or cease Bloodrunning after 31/12. Everyone without the advanced already, has signed up to train and test.

The charity paid the first 12 month subscription for IAM associate membership and the test fee. So all it cost me, was two or three hours of my time per week for 20 weeks to benefit from one-to-one riding instruction, the fuel and tyre rubber I burnt (!) doing that, and a tenner a week in the volunteer observer's pocket to pay for his fuel. I passed my advanced test in December 2019 on a two hour examination ride in the pissing rain on a dark evening, under observation from a Police master. Again, a volunteer doing it in his own time. I learned more good stuff about riding in those 20 weeks than I had learned in the previous 20 years. It transformed my riding for the better.

During my covid furlough March to July this year, I volunteered to deliver prescription drugs to the homes of shielded cancer patients, and to deliver PPE from the regional logistics hub to hospitals, surgeries and care homes within a radius of up to 50 miles. I clocked up about 1600 miles while doing that -  I met some wonderful, fascinating, desperately ill and desperately lonely people, many of whom were gagging for someone - anyone - to chat to. Otherwise, I would have been sitting on my arse at home, watching daytime telly and picking my feet.

Bloodrunning - I love doing it, always have, and I will keep on doing it as long as I can. It is tremendously rewarding for me but I accept - different strokes for different folks. I'm due an advanced re-test in December 2021 and I am looking forward to doing some refresher training and passing it again. It will be at my expense next time, but I consider it a worthwhile investment.

I admit to being an old git. Personally, I'm averse to mixing with other old gits that ride motorcycles because largely, they get on my foccin' nerves, for the very same reasons that some of you have expressed above. So I choose to steer clear of them, it's not difficult to do. Passing the IAM or RoSPA advanced test does not commit you to any sort of social mixing with other members of those organisations.