DocBike provides bikes ridden by specialist doctors to help reach casualties in the quickest time possible
A charity’s plans to expand and reduce the number of deaths involving motorcyclists has been given a boost after receiving support from a motorbike insurer. DocBike provides rapid response bikes ridden by specialist trauma doctors, to help reach casualties in the quickest time possible.
The life-saving organisation relies on fundraising and donations to attend collisions that often cause serious or fatal injuries. At the moment, DocBike operates across Humberside and North Yorkshire, Somerset and Avon, Cheshire, Sussex, Devon, Staffordshire and Dorset. However, it has plans to take its expertise and support to riders and emergency services in other counties in the future.
Now, DocBike has been given undisclosed financial backing as part of a partnership with Bikesure, the largest motorcycle broker in the UK. It said Bikesure’s backing will help its plans for expansion, by keeping down insurance costs.
Bikesure, part of the Adrian Flux Insurance Group, has been providing specialist motorbike insurance since 1990 and is available for riders of all ages and experience, covering everything from imports and trikes to quads, sports bikes, Chinese scooters, mopeds, classics and modified bikes.
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Dr Ian Mew, co-founder and trustee of DocBike, said: “We are a charity staffed entirely by volunteers. We don’t have any paid members of staff. As a community-led organisation, we must save every penny we can to run the charity, so that we can use people’s donations to the greatest effect.
“It costs us over £60,000 to put a fully-equipped DocBike on the roads, so working with Bikesure to reduce the costs of our insurance is not only very much appreciated, but helps us save lives too.”
Set up in 2013, the charity has grown but still has the aim to have a DocBike associated with every air ambulance charity around the country. Volunteers also invest time in trying to prevent people from being involved in a crash in the first place, by working with other organisations to launch road safety campaigns and trying to improve riders’ skills.
Rob Balls, general manager of Bikesure, said: “We are proud to team up with some amazing organisations – and that’s certainly what DocBike is. Any effort to save lives is one we can all get behind and it’s no wonder that the public support this great charity by attending ride outs and fundraising in other ways too.
“Naturally, we hope no rider needs to benefit from the expertise of DocBike, but having it available means that lives are being saved. No words can convey the importance and value of that.”
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