NHS Ride of Thanks committee would like to invite the biking community of Northern Ireland, to get their gear on and attend their unique fundraising event on Sunday 4 July, in aid of Air Ambulance NI.
The event will see bikers travelling from 6 areas throughout Northern Ireland, to meet at D1 Dock Street, Airport Road West for 10am with a suggested donation of £10 per bike. Leaving promptly at 11am, the bikers will then travel together through Belfast, passing the hospitals.
Karl Bradley, President of the NHS Ride of Thanks committee said:
“We would like to encourage the biking community in Northern Ireland to get behind our event! As road users, we never know quite know when you will need the assistance of the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service team and I appreciate the value this lifesaving service can bring to areas with extended travel times, for specialist emergency care.
“We are hoping to have in excess of 2,000 bikers attending NHS Ride of Thanks, so this is a great excuse to take your bike out for a run and support your local Air Ambulance.”
Bikers will travel from the following 6 areas throughout NI
• Donard Park, Newcastle 7.30am
• Wellington Car Park, beside Enniskillen Castle 7.30am
• Riverside Retail Park, Coleraine 7.45am
• Crescent Link Londonderry 8.15am
• Orritor Road ,Cookstown 8.30am
• Carrick Care Park 9.15am
Karl continues: “We would like to say thank you to those who have already generously supported us and we look forward to seeing as many bikers as we can on 4 July. For more information on our event, please contact Karl Bradley (President) 07871 444 106 or Debbie (Vice President) 07547 290 734 OR visit our Facebook page ‘NHS Ride of Thanks Northern Ireland Main Group”.
The charity Air Ambulance Northern Ireland, in partnership with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, provides the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service for Northern Ireland. The service brings urgent medical assistance to anywhere in the province, operating seven days a week for 12 hours per day. It can get to anywhere in Northern Ireland in approximately twenty-five minutes.
From inception to March 2021 the medical crew have been tasked 2,114 times. The service has been called out on 229 occasions from January – March 2021, an increase of 30 % on the previous year and a 73% increase from 2018.
Grace Williams, Area Fundraising Manager said:
“We are so inspired by the creativity and generosity we are seeing from the public across Northern Ireland. NHS Ride of Thanks committee are a real inspiration, organising this unique fundraising event, combining their passion for motorbikes and support for their local Air Ambulance. We are just so delighted that they wanted to do this in support of Air Ambulance NI.
“As a service we rely heavily on charitable donations to keep the medical team in the air, delivering critical care to patients who have suffered trauma throughout Northern Ireland- without this type of support, the team simply couldn’t fly. Every single penny counts. We want to say a huge thank you to the NHS Ride of Thanks committee for their amazing support and would encourage everyone to support their fundraising event on Sunday 4 July.”
The HEMS team attend patients who are seriously ill or injured, bringing emergency pre-hospital care direct to the casualty with the aim of saving lives, brains and limbs. We cherish connecting with former patients and patient families. If you, or one of your family members, have been treated by the HEMS Crew please get in touch by calling 028 9262 2677 we’d love to hear from you.
Air Ambulance NI needs to raise £2million each year to maintain this service so public donations are crucial. Fundraising has been severely impacted by Covid19.
If you would like to support this life-saving service, there are a number of exciting upcoming events you can participate in including a Dragon Boat Race, the Belfast City Marathon, abseils or you could organise your own event with the charity’s support.
Find out more and sign up to a challenge that suits you by visiting www.airambulanceni.org alternatively you can contact the charity directly by emailing info@airambulanceni.org or calling 028 9262 2677.