Pangbourne Rotary Club donates £1,000 to SERV OBN, the volunteer NHS 'blood bikes' service

Pangbourne Rotary Club has donated £1,000 to a team of volunteer motorbike riders who transport blood out of hours between NHS centres.

SERV OBN (Service By Emergency Rider Volunteers Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire Berkshire and Northamptonshire), or more informally known as the 'blood bikes', is a vital service that operates at night and on weekends.

The fleet of 14 motorbikes and two 4X4 cars transfers emergency blood supplies and other medical products – including breast milk – between NHS establishments.

Chair of trustees for SERV OBN Kamran Irani said: “I am absolutely delighted with the fantastic donation of £1,000. SERV OBN receives no direct Government or NHS funding, so is entirely dependent on generous donations such as this to be able to continue operating.

“To put this donation into some context – this amount will be sufficient for us to fuel one of our duty marked motorcycles approximately 50 times.

“In turn this will allow us to complete approximately 170 calls for our service to transport urgently needed blood, blood products, medical supplies, medical equipment, human donor milk, out of hours and when urgently needed by patients.”