Sheila Kiggins, Media Relations Manager for Faculty of Social Sciences, has joined a group of volunteer bikers offering free deliveries across the country to help support the fight against the coronavirus. As a Bike Shed Community Responder she has been transporting scrubs from volunteer makers to health workers.

Sheila said:

“Motorcycling is a big part of my life and my club normally raises hundreds of pounds a year for local good causes including the NHS and the blood bikers. Because all events have been cancelled we’ve not been able to fundraise and I’ve been looking for another way to give back to the community.

“The Bike Shed Community Response network started in London but now covers the whole of the UK. Delivery jobs are scheduled on a professional app which has been re-purposed for us volunteers to use. We deliver anything from PPE to prescriptions, urgent oximeter tests or even food.

“It’s a great way to use my bike and my love of riding to help fight the virus. Our courier service means that PPE makers don’t need to waste time and money posting or driving parcels around – we’ll pick them up and get them where they need to be.

“We don’t just do scrubs – if you’re involved in responding to Covid-19 and think you could make use of the Bike Shed Community Response service, please visit the website to see if we can help.”

Find out more and how you can use the service.

Bike Shed Community Response

When The Bike Shed, a popular London motorcycle venue, was forced to close its doors, founders Dutch and Vikki van Someren decided to mobilise the Bike Shed community into a volunteer rider’s network, providing free courier-style services to support the fight against Covid-19.

Motorcycles are used by first responders, couriers and food delivery drivers because they are fast and efficient. Across the UK, Bike Shed volunteers use our own bikes to distribute PPE gear to front-line healthcare workers, move material to ScrubHubs, take the finished scrubs to healthcare workers, and carry out food and medicine deliveries. Within London urgent jobs include delivering oximeters to monitor the blood oxygen of people with Covid-19 to see if they need to go to hospital, and taking test kits to NHS staff so that they won’t have to travel to get tested.

The jobs are co-ordinated on a mobile app with full safeguarding and legal checks, tracking jobs for the pickup and delivery clients.

The Bike Shed Motorcycle Club set up the Volunteer Riders Group in collaboration with Gophr and Wavestone, working along side Team Rubicon UK and backed by Indian Motorcycle. it is entirely a charity venture, and no organisers or companies are being paid in any way.

 

 

Sheila Kiggins and her motorcycle

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