North West Blood Bikes Lancs & Lakes

What North West Blood Bikes Lancs & Lakes does

North West Blood Bikes Lancs & Lakes is a UK-registered charity (Charity number 1147282) founded in 2012 and headquartered in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire. The organization provides an out-of-hours emergency motorcycle and car courier service on behalf of NHS hospitals in Lancashire and South Cumbria, transporting urgently needed blood, platelets, medical samples, medication, patient notes, donor breast milk, and small medical equipment. Operations run from 7pm to 2am Monday to Thursday and continuously from Friday 7pm through Monday 2am including bank holidays, directly addressing the gap when commercial couriers are unavailable.

The service is staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers occupying roles of riders, controllers, fundraisers, and West Lancashire area drivers, with riders and controllers required to commit to a minimum of two shifts per month. The underlying operational technology consists of liveried motorcycles and cars fitted with GPS trackers that record location, time, and speed for rider safety and operational monitoring. The charity has completed 170,000 cumulative runs as of March 2026 and received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.

The business model is donation-funded rather than fee-based: the charity provides its NHS courier service free of charge and does not receive payment from the NHS. Income streams comprise donations (boosted by 25% via UK Gift Aid), community fundraising events, supermarket collections, corporate sponsorships (e.g., Span Set, Cormar Carpets, North West Honda, J&S), in-kind donations such as the March 2026 contribution of three Voge 525SX motorcycles from the Widows Sons Masonic Bikers Association, and merchandise sales (mugs, pens, keyrings, patches, stickers, water bottles, notepads) priced between £1.00 and £5.00. Marketing and volunteer recruitment are conducted through community events, educational talks to civic groups, social media (Facebook, X, Instagram), earned media coverage, and direct hospital dispatch relationships.

Name

North West Blood Bikes Lancs & Lakes

Legal name

North West Blood Bikes Lancs & Lakes

Website

https://nwbb-lancs.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

North West Blood Bikes Lancs & Lakes is a UK-registered charity providing a free, volunteer-staffed out-of-hours emergency motorcycle courier service that transports blood, samples, medication, and medical supplies for NHS hospitals across Lancashire and South Cumbria.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Emergency Medical Courier Services

NAICS

Local Messengers and Local Delivery (49221)

SIC

Trucking & Courier Services (No Air) (4210)

akta.pro primary industry

Home Healthcare & DME Delivery (Oxygen, Supplies) (TLAAAIAE)

Keywords

• Emergency medical transport
• Volunteer courier service
• Blood transport service
• Out-of-hours logistics
• Charity courier service

Headquarters

HQ city

Bamber Bridge

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: The charity is entirely funded by donations from supporters and fundraising events. The organization receives no payment from the NHS for its services.
2. Merchandise Sales: Online shop selling branded merchandise including mugs, pens, keyrings, patches, badges, water bottles, and notepads. All proceeds fund operations.
3. Gift Aid: UK taxpayers can claim Gift Aid on donations, boosting each donation by 25% at no extra cost to the donor.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

North West Blood Bikes Lancs & Lakes is a volunteer-run charity that provides an out-of-hours emergency motorcycle courier service for NHS hospitals across Lancashire and South Cumbria. Volunteer riders and drivers collect and deliver urgent medical items such as whole blood, platelets, laboratory samples, medication, patient notes, donor breast milk, and small medical equipment between hospitals, operating during evenings, nights, weekends, and bank holidays when commercial couriers are unavailable. The service is provided completely free of charge to the NHS, funded entirely by donations, fundraising events, and merchandise sales.

Product overview

North West Blood Bikes Lancs & Lakes operates a single unified service offering: an out-of-hours emergency volunteer motorcycle courier service supporting NHS hospitals in Lancashire and South Cumbria. The service transports urgently needed medical items including blood, platelets, samples for analysis, medication, patient notes, donor breast milk, and small medical equipment. Operating hours are 7:00 pm to 2:00 am Monday to Thursday, with extended weekend and bank holiday coverage including both day and night shifts. The organization supplements its charitable operations with a merchandise shop selling branded items including mugs, pens, keyrings, patches, notebooks, stickers, and novelty items. All merchandise proceeds fund the charity's operations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Emergency Blood Bike Courier Service

Quantifiable outcome

• 170,000 runs completed (as of March 2026)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Millenium Motorcycles (St. Helens)minorOthers · 6 March 2026Motorcycle supplier that provided Voge 525SX motorcycles for the Widows Sons Masonic Bikers donation to the charity.
• NorthWest Blood Bikes, Merseyside and Cheshire Bloodbikes and Greater Manchester Blood BikescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 March 2026Regional blood bike organizations that came together on 6th March 2026 for the Widows Sons Masonic Bikers bike donation event. Represents the broader northwest blood biking community collaboration.
• Widows Sons Masonic Bikers (Northwest Chapter)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMasonic biking association that donated 3 brand new Voge 525SX motorcycles to the charity in March 2026. The bikes were supplied by Millenium Motorcycles in St. Helens. This represents a significant in-kind donation to expand the fleet.
• Span SetminorOthersCorporate supporter whose logo appears on the supporters section of the website.
• Cormar CarpetsminorOthersCorporate supporter whose logo appears on the supporters section of the website.
• North West HondaminorOthersCorporate supporter whose logo appears on the supporters section of the website.
• Eric Wright Charitable TrustminorOthersCorporate supporter whose logo appears on the supporters section of the website.
• J&S (Leyland)minorOthersCorporate supporter celebrating 1st anniversary partnership with the charity. Logo appears on supporters section.
• Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland & WestmorlandminorOthersMasonic organization supporter whose logo appears on the supporters section of the website.
• Provincial Grand Lodge of West LancashireminorOthersMasonic organization supporter whose logo appears on the supporters section of the website.
• East Lancashire Masonic CharityminorOthersMasonic charity supporter whose logo appears on the supporters section of the website.
• ShorrocksminorOthersCorporate supporter whose logo appears on the supporters section of the website.
• Ghost BikesminorOthersCorporate supporter whose logo appears on the supporters section of the website.
• Plop EndurominorOthersCorporate supporter whose logo appears on the supporters section of the website.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SERV (Service by Emergency Rider Volunteers): Multi-region volunteer motorcycle courier charity providing emergency transport of blood, medical samples, and supplies for NHS hospitals. Operates a directly comparable volunteer-led model across several UK regions.
• Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes: Volunteer emergency courier service transporting blood, plasma, and medical samples between Yorkshire hospitals. Directly comparable in mission, volunteer-led model, and NHS customer base.
• Merseyside and Cheshire Bloodbikes: Volunteer-run emergency motorcycle courier service for NHS hospitals in Merseyside and Cheshire. Directly comparable to NWBB Lancs & Lakes as a regional blood bike charity delivering out-of-hours medical items via rider volunteers.
• Blood Bikes UK: National federation representing UK volunteer blood bike groups including NWBB Lancs & Lakes. Comparable as the umbrella organization supporting the same volunteer emergency medical courier mission across regional chapters.
• Freewheelers EVS: Volunteer-run emergency motorcycle courier charity serving NHS hospitals across the South West of England. Directly comparable in offering out-of-hours medical transport of blood, samples, and supplies via rider volunteers.
• Greater Manchester Blood Bikes: Volunteer-run emergency motorcycle courier service supporting NHS hospitals in Greater Manchester. Directly comparable in mission, operational model, volunteer-led structure, and NHS customer segment.

Broad incumbents

• NHS Blood and Transplant: NHS-affiliated organization managing blood and transplant logistics across England. Operates within the same blood product ecosystem that NWBB Lancs & Lakes serves, but as a much larger institutional player with a broader national mandate.

Regional players

• North West Air Ambulance: Charity-funded helicopter emergency medical service covering the North West of England. Comparable as a volunteer-funded regional emergency medical service in the same geography, though operating in air rather than ground courier.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nwbbll
• Facebookfacebook.com/nwbbll
• Instagraminstagram.com/nwbblancs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/north-west-blood-bikes

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about North West Blood Bikes Lancs & Lakes