A charity’s plans to expand and reduce the number of deaths involving motorcyclists has been handed a boost after receiving support from a nationally-known 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.
It currently operates in Dorset, Staffordshire, Devon, Sussex, Cheshire, Somerset & Avon and Humberside & North Yorkshire but hopes to bring its expertise and support to riders and emergency services in other counties in the future. Increased visibility and financial backing gained after agreeing a partnership with Bikesure, the largest motorcycle broker in the UK, will only help those efforts according to key figures within the team.
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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 Dorset 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, often 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.” Bikesure, part of the Adrian Flux Insurance Group, has been providing specialist motorbike insurance since 1990. It has become the largest motorcycle broker in the UK and supports a host of events, individuals, organisations and charities
