Member Article

Blood Run Charity has New Free Home

A local charity that saves the NHS over £125k a year has landed itself a new home, in the heart of Middlesbrough, free of charge.

Bloodrun Emergency Voluntary Service (EVS) is a blood bike and transport charity that provides a free, voluntary courier service to NHS hospitals and Trusts in the Tees Valley and North Yorkshire area.

And now the team, who handle over 1500 emergency out-of-hours call outs over 365 days a year, has been invited to join the community at Commerce House in Middlesbrough as virtual tenants, gifted to the charity by the building’s owners Commerce Chambers Ltd.

Ritchie Wolstenholme, chairman of the Bloodrun EVS is keen to be visible and have a recognised postcode. The charitable service launched eight years ago and is growing everyday as more departments become aware of the free service, which saves a large outgoing that previously was being spent on taxi’s in emergency situations. Ritchie explained:

“We are very much focused on the central conurbation between Hartlepool, North Tees and James Cook Hospitals but the call outs can see our bikes and cars going to Durham Tees Valley Airport or The Friarage Hospital, Northallerton with important samples for pathology or medical suppliers and paperwork needed for emergency procedures.

“Our whole aim is to save money for the NHS, and in doing so we need to raise funds to ensure we can keep running. To do this we need a postcode, a central base for people to be able to send donations to, and Commerce House is ideal due to its location. Thank you to the team there for the support, it is just this kind of generosity we need from other corporates in the area, with all donations or donations in kind gratefully received! “

The Bloodrun EVS is solely built up from volunteers and currently has four motorcycles and three cars in its fleet. The team is constantly on the look out for sponsorship especially for tires, fuel, maintenance of the vehicles and of course for more volunteers to drive cars ride bikes and fundraise. Christine Huntington, facilities manager at Commerce House, said:

“Bloodrun EVS is such a good cause, we were keen to help them. They had nowhere to call ‘home’ where post could be collected and kept safe, hold team meetings and no-one to answer business calls during the day, so we were delighted to offer assistance.

“As a growing business in the heart of Middlesbrough, we are keen to support both businesses and good causes in the region.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Toms .