Rising fuel costs strain Blood Bikes Cumbria's critical services

Cumbria Blood Bikes charity is experiencing financial pressures due to soaring fuel prices, impacting their ability to transport blood and medical samples across the county.

Operations Manager Louise Hetherington highlights the burden of increased costs, with the charity spending an additional £300 per month on fuel alone to maintain their vital services.

"It has got an impact because we have to generate every penny that we spend, so the longer it continues the more money we'll be spending. And we'll have to find the money to plug to shortfall."

Despite switching half of their vehicle fleet to automatic earlier this year, the charity continues to feel the financial strain.

Louise Hetherington explains that the rising costs means more thoughtful consideration of each trip's expenses, as the charity remains committed to providing free transportation services.

"If its a none urgent collection, we're grouping them together to make those collections more effective. It's making us a lot more observant about how we put the vehicles on the road."

She is urging the local community to support Blood Bikes Cumbria in navigating these challenges, emphasising the importance of donations to help sustain their operations.

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