TV's 'Flymo' backs bikers

The 64 volunteer riders from emergency couriers Devon Freewheelers were over the moon when one of TV’s Emergency Bikers agreed to become the charity’s first patron.

Paramedic biker for the West Midlands Ambulance Service Mark Hayes, a familiar face to viewers of the Channel 5 series, took the decision to endorse the charity after visiting its headquarters and riding out with some of the team.

Devon Freewheelers CEO, Daniel Lavery said: “We’d been tweeting Mark for a while, and he decided to check us out. He was recently supplied with a new paramedic motorcycle and thought a trip down the M5 to Devon was a good way to break it in.”

Mark, known as Flymo in the TV series, had a look round the operations centre before taking a gentle ride around some of East Devon’s challenging lanes with Daniel and volunteer rider Dave Webber.

“Mark was really impressed by the work we do and the professionalism of the organisation,” explained Dan. “He was surprised to learn about the size of the service and the fact that we travel hundreds of thousands of miles every year in sometimes difficult road conditions to deliver vital supplies to hospitals, doctors surgeries and patients’ homes.”

After seeing first-hand the high standards of riding and road safety set by the Devon Freewheelers, Mark said he would be pleased to lend his support as a patron for the charity.

Daniel hopes that Mark will make further visits to the team and bring fellow Emergency Biker Steve Harris – aka Forrest Grump – with him next time. The two celebrity bikers have been invited to the fundraising Sausage and Cider Festival being held in Honiton on May 3.