New ‘housemates’ welcomed to West Denton Fire Station!

West Denton Community Fire Station recently welcomed the latest addition to their site with Northumbria Blood Bikes becoming the latest emergency and community service to operate from the west Newcastle facility.

Along with the North East Ambulance Service and the North of Tyne Mountain Rescue team, Northumbria Blood Bikes will continue to deliver blood to hospitals across the North East.

Group Manager Peter Iveson, Head of Service Delivery, North which covers the Newcastle and North Tyneside areas said: “It’s a great pleasure to welcome Northumbria Blood Bikes into West Denton.

“Like Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, they provide an essential service, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and all of our staff are looking forward to welcoming them into our home.”

The volunteer organisation supplies vital medical supplies out-of-hours to healthcare sites in Tyne and Wear, Northumberland, County Durham and Darlington. They carry out this service free of charge to help save the NHS money.

All their funding comes from charitable donations and all riders, drivers and other staff give up their own free time to perform this valuable selfless service. They have expanded since their launch in 2014 and now also supply the Great North Air Ambulance Service bases and performed over 10,000 deliveries in 2016 alone.

Kirsty Lawrence, Northumbria Blood Bikes Publicity Officer, said: “As a volunteer run charity we appreciate the support and the warm welcome we have received by the West Denton Fire Station team. Our working partnership with other organisations across the North East is crucial to our operational service. We look forward to the future in our new home.”

In 2017 they received The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service – the equivalent of an MBE for voluntary groups.

For more information visit http://www.northumbriabloodbikes.org.uk/