SCHOOLCHILDREN from Thornbury have been visited by a bloodbike charity to celebrate winners of a poster competition to promote the service.

Severn Freewheelers, who offers an out-of-hours blood delivery service for the NHS using motorbikes, saving £150,000 a year, teamed up with The Castle School in November to raise awareness among the year seven classes.

The children worked to raise £100 for the charity at the school’s Autumn Fayre.

Following the visit, the school set up a competition to find the best poster design to promote Severn Freewheelers and its work. 

The brief was simple; to design a poster that is colourful and informative for the charity to display at events and shows where they are present.

The winner, Nadia Bouassaba and the two runners up, Ali Smith and Hannah Nelmes, received their prizes from Paul Fairbank, Chairman of Severn Freewheelers who said: "It is so important to raise awareness of blood bikes, and schools are a great way to do that. 

“The children had great fun when we brought the bike in and then go off to talk about this to their families. We hope that next time they see a blood bike on the roads they'll give us a big wave!"  

The children were also visited by Richard Prowse, one of the charity’s senior riders.

Lou Sturt, a teacher at The Castle School said: "Year seven loved the bike! They had a great afternoon learning about Severn Freewheelers' work and were then inspired to create their own marketing material in support of this charity. 

“Raising money for this fantastic cause gave the year group a real focus for their fundraising stalls at Castle School's Autumn Fayre." 

Tess Wilkinson, business development manager at The Castle School, who has also volunteered for the charity for over a year said: "It is great to be able to give something back to the NHS by riding blood bikes.

“The work we do can make the difference between life and death, and although I have to be prepared to go out in all sorts of weather, I love riding for the charity. 

“We meet amazing people and get to see things we'd never otherwise see. The one thing I'd encourage is that more women ride. I am the only woman rider out of around 100 in our charity!"

If you want to find how you can support Severn Freewheelers or get involved, contact Tess Wilkinson on tessa.wilkinson@cset.co.uk.