Greater Manchester Blood Bikes has added a new pink Honda NC750X to its fleet after receiving the motorcycle from Maisie Moo’s Missions in September. The bike was put to work immediately: during its first week, it covered 600 miles while completing 25 jobs for the service.

Maisie Moo’s Missions was founded by Stalybridge couple Kathryn and Stuart Almond in memory of their daughter, Maisie, who died from acute liver failure in 2024. She became ill suddenly in September 2024. Although a donor liver was found, her condition deteriorated to the point that she was too weak to undergo the operation.

Kathryn Almond said the family wanted to support blood supplies after seeing how important they would have been to Maisie’s treatment. At the time, the NHS was under an Amber Alert for blood stocks. The charity subsequently met Greater Manchester’s blood bikers to discuss how the two organisations could work together, with the service explaining that demand for its work was constrained partly by the number of vehicles available.

A working memorial

The NC750X is now one of 10 motorcycles operated by Greater Manchester Blood Bikes. Dave Parsons, the organisation’s Corporate Fundraising and Strategic Partnerships Trustee, stresses that blood-bike groups are self-funded charities rather than government-funded services or private businesses. Donations are therefore central to keeping the fleet on the road.

Parsons puts the operating cost of each motorcycle at around £2,500 per year. The demanding nature of the work also means that a bike typically remains with the charity for between three and four years. Despite those costs, Greater Manchester Blood Bikes estimates that its work saves the Greater Manchester NHS hundreds of thousands of pounds annually. Taken across the country, the regional blood-bike charities save the NHS millions of pounds, Parsons says.

The colour was a condition of the donation: pink was Maisie’s favourite, and it also helps the motorcycle remain visible while serving both charities’ purposes. The rear panniers carry two QR codes, with one directing people to the Greater Manchester Blood Bikes fundraising channel and the other to Maisie Moo’s Missions. That gives the bike a practical fundraising role whenever it is out on the road.

Maisie’s own generosity was another reason her family created the charity. Kathryn Almond says Maisie worked every Saturday in a local hospice charity shop and was always looking for ways to help other people. The NC750X now turns that memory into an active part of the blood-bike service: a memorial motorcycle that is also completing daily transport work for the organisation.