BMW bikers raise thousands for the Air Ambulance

Graham parker on his BMW with wife Ann Parker.

Big-hearted bikers revved up and raised more than Â£1,100 for a very good cause.

Members of the Mansfield Woodhouse based midlands section of the BMW Club at dug deep in their pockets to raise a grand total of £1,187.40 for the Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance.

Graham Parker of Mansfield Woodhouse is the treasurer of the club and presented a cheque to the charity after the fancy dress event at the Fire Services College in the Cotswolds.

The BMW Club (motorcycle) section has raised more than £24,000 since adopting the charity.

Dad of two Graham, 61 organises rallies around the country and overseas for riders of his beloved BMW machines.

He said: “In the past I have witnessed the Air Ambulance in action both as a coal miner and motorcyclist.

“The teams that work on this very important facility are most professional and without the Air Ambulance I would be without two friends, the speed that this service will get you to hospital is of most importance.”

He said the section has worked over a number of years now to raise funds for the Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance, raising £24,382.69 to date.

Each of the 16 sections supports the Air Ambulance is based within its own area.

He added: “We raise the funds by running raffles, and sport games along with direct donations from the members.

“The National rally at the F.S.C, this year had a 60th theme and fancy dress evening which is a bit of a tall order as travelling by motorcycle and taking along extra clothes for fancy dress is difficult at best.

“The rally was a great success and BMW Club members had a good event over the August Bank Holiday long week end with over 357 members attending the four day event.”

The BMW motorcycle club is a national organisation now in its 67th year with more than 4,000 members,

The club is in 16 regional sections and the Midland section being one of these having a sectional membership of over 220 members.

The bikers organise meetings and camping hotel weekend and tours over to Europe on a regular basis. The Midland section has both mid-week meetings and weekend meeting along with camping and hotel weekends and hundreds of national events over the year.