VIDEO: TV presenter Rav Wilding awards North West Blood Bikes Lancs & Lakes

Rav Wilding, famous for presenting Crimewatch Roadshow, jumped on one of the bikes alongside the North West Blood Bikes Lancs & Lakes team after he presented them with the National Lottery Award for being the UK’s Best Health project.

The group of motorcyclists volunteer in their ‘down time’ to transport urgently required items, such as blood, samples, medication and donor breast milk, to hospitals in Lancashire and the Lake District.

So following the announcement of their big award, Rav decided to put on his helmet and gear and join the team for a ride in Chorley on Thursday.

He said: “It’s great for them to finally get some recognition for all their hard work, which they do for free.

“So many people don’t know about the work they do, so it’s great to get the word out there for people to see the amazing work they do and hopefully they will just grow bigger.”

Rav was looking forward to going out on the real job with them, to help transport an item from one hospital to another using the blood bikes.

The charity, which is run entirely by volunteers and fundraising, ensures this transport is available seven days a week, 365 days a year, so the hospitals don’t have to pay for private couriers out of hours.

Paul Brooks, founder, chairman and trustee, from Chorley, who set up the charity in 2012, was proud of the award, which includes a £3,000 cash donation, a trophy and a television awards ceremony in September.

The bikers won the award after almost 5,000 people voted for them for the annual Lotto awards.

Paul said: “When we started I knew there was a need for something like this but never in my wildest dreams did I envisage it would go as big as this.

“But with 350 volunteers across Lancs and Lakes, it just goes to show how many people care.

“This award is fantastic... and the cash donation will go towards buying equipment and fuel - meaning we can use it to help save even more lives.

“We didn’t expect to win this, but we did thanks to the people who voted.”

For more information about the charity, visit www.nwbb-lancs.org.