Northumbria Blood Bikes is a registered charity which transports blood and urgent medical supplies throughout the North East of England, from Berwick in the North to Darlington in the South and between the Eastern coast and the Cumbria border. The charity is run entirely by volunteers and relies on these volunteers to undertake all tasks. We are operational outside of normal office hours: from 19:00 in the evening until 07:00 in the morning during the week, and at weekends we cover from 19:00 on Friday until 07:00 on Monday (or the next working day after that on Bank Holidays).    

We are looking for volunteer Drivers to help the charity to deliver a full and professional service.

As a Driver, your tasks will be varied. Throughout the winter months, you will be needed to work standby shifts while we are operational, the same hours as our riders, listed above. If blood requires to be transported, but the weather is too cold to transport blood on a bike, it will need to be transported by car, which is where you will come in. If you are also a rider, you may be on shift with a bike too and, if needed to transport blood in certain weather conditions, you would have to swap the bike for a car and perform the task. 

Through the rest of year, we undertake a huge number of events which need the blood car to attend. Whilst the majority of operational work is out of hours, there is good portion of work to be done in more normal hours, often at weekends, and it is potentially the case that one works with the other. You will work very closely with the Shift Controller, or other service as is appropriate at the time, and use technology to record activities.

Duties

1. Transport blood and other urgent medical supplies between NHS premises out of hours in cold weather.
2. Complete annual driving assesments with our Training Officer
3. Undertake any other training as may be required to perform safely
4. Drive at all times portraying a professional image of the Group.
5. Take part in regular training sessions
6. Undertake fundraising and publicity activities as you are able to with the car or events van 

Requirements

1. Drivers must be aged 25 or over
2. Full current driving licence (for 2 years or more)
3. Acceptable driving history (acceptable to our insurers)
4. Have a suitable location to park the car at home for time on shift
5. Current advanced driving certificate (IAM, RoSPA, Police, DSA Instructor or emergency services equivalent) which must have been passed or re-assessed within 3 years prior to your initial NBB assessment.
6. Able to cover one 12-hour shift at a time (overnight or weekend days) when operational

You can find out more from our FAQ or, to join, fill in our membership form 

If you are not currently an advanced driver, don't let that stop you. You can join now, and train through one of our local IAM / RoSPA groups to get through the test, although you will not be able to drive our cars until after your advanced test is passed, and a few small steps have been taken.