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 given the greater versatility of a car and throughout the winter months, cars will be needed more 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 may 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 during week days and at weekends. You will work very closely with the NBB Shift Controller, or our weeknight call handling service as is appropriate, and use online technology to record activities.

Duties

1. Transport blood and other urgent medical supplies between NHS premises out of hours especially 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 charity;
5. Take part in other training sessions, as required;
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 (where working from home is suitable)
5. Current recognised advanced driving certificates are from IAM & RoSPA. Other professional qualifications from Police, Fire & Ambulance, DSA Instructor or emergency services equivalent) will also be considered.  All qualifications must have been passed or re-assessed within 3 years prior to your initial NBB assessment.
6. Able to provide the charity with a minimum of 2 operational shifts per month (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.  Financial assistance with advanced qualifications is currently available.