Mayor and Mayoress of Hereford to officially open the Prescott Bike Festival 2016

Prescott Bike Festival - Sunday 17 April 2016

Prescott Hill Climb, Gotherington, Nr Cheltenham GL52 9RD

The biggest annual fundraiser for Severn Freewheelers

Mayor and Mayoress of Hereford to officially open Prescott Bike Festival 2016

– Sunday 17th April 2016

The Right Worshipful the Mayor, Councillor Charles Nicholls and Mayoress, Mrs Jenny Tawn will be attending the Prescott Bike Festival, which takes place once again on Sunday 17th April 2016 at Prescott Hill Climb near Cheltenham. The Mayor and Mayoress of Hereford will officially open the 2016 festival and flag off the Blood Bike parade.

Prescott Bike Festival is a big celebration of man and machine with large displays of historic, modern and race bike, plus a Paddock Specials Show 'n' Tell area, and the unique opportunity for members of the public to take part in the spectacle by 'running the hill' or participating in a thrilling passenger ride experience. There's also a whole raft of entertainment too from live music, stunt shows, biker celebrity appearances and hundreds of trade stands, motorcycle manufacturers, dealer zone, motorcycle clubs, demo areas – what's more it helps to raise money and awareness for the Blood Bikes charities.

The Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes is the umbrella organisation representing 24 regional blood bike charities, all providing a motorcycle based, free delivery service to the NHS; moving vital medical supplies, blood and pathology samples from medical centres and hospitals throughout the UK. Due to the high demand of call-outs within Herefordshire; the charity is actively seeking to recruit volunteers from the local area to join their life saving work force. For further information, please visit: www.severnfreewheelers.org.uk

The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Hereford, Councillor Charles Nicholls said, “As Mayor of Hereford I heartily applaud their efforts. Blood Bikes proved a vital service and the bikers selflessly give of their free time and riding skills in all weathers to save lives. I encourage all to support them in all their endeavours and perhaps when one appears in your vicinity, put your hands together and give them the encouragement they deserve.”

Prescott Bike Festival is the Blood Bikes biggest annual fundraiser. The event prides itself on diversity and celebrates engineering excellence; from rare, classic, modern, customised to hand built bikes and those of historic significance, this year the organisers have secured the most diverse motorcycles yet, from the World's fastest shopping trolley powered by a Chinook helicopter engine (holds a record speed of 70.4mph/ 113.298khm), the Carlos Checa's MotoGP bike through to Bob Farmer, winner of the 1966 Lightweight Manx TT with his 1960's Aemacchi (the model he took the win on).

Better known as the fearsome Connie Beauchamp from BBC1's Casualty, Amanda Mealing will be joining us for the 2016 Bike Festival. Amanda passed her bike test in 2014, while her character is just as much of a biker and has been portrayed turning up for work on a Triumph Bonneville 800. “I am a speed freak and petrol-head” she's said. “I adore motor biking. I have a beautiful BMW RNine-T, that I call Beauty and the Beast. She's stunning to look at and a monster on the road”. We are delighted to welcome Amanda to Prescott!

“Queen of Bikers” Maria Costello MBE will also be making her debut at Prescott. Maria is best known for being the fastest female TT lap record holder and the first woman to lap the Isle of Man TT course, with an average speed of 114.73mph, and is currently the fastest female ever around the Ulster Grand Prix course. Maria was awarded an MBE in 2009 for her services to motorcycling. We can't wait to see Maria take to the historic hill climb course.

Unlike a static bike show, Prescott gives visitors the unique opportunity to get up close to see, smell and hear lots of historic, classic and race bikes run the historic hill climb course, “better than Goodwood”, said one excited visitor. There are so many significant motorcycles heading to Prescott this year including Kevin Schwantz' 1995 Suzuki RGV500 XR85, the last Suzuki GP bike Schwantz ever rode.

For the first time, Talan Skeels Piggins, the world's first paraplegic racer, will be in attendance - in between racing his SV650 and skiing for Great Britain, he runs the charity 'The Bike Experience' helping soldiers injured in combat to get back on a bike.

Another Prescott debut will be Tom 'The Atom' Anable, a Lincolnshire based rider, who has designed, built and engineered several Monowheel machines that has held several records. It's sure to be a great spectacle, when he completes and extraordinary run on the renowned hill climb course.

Also in the Paddock, will be a Nuclear Research Engineer and iconic motorcycle builder Allen Millyard who will regularly fire up, and take to the hill on his home-built 'Flying Millyard'. Despite resembling a classic 1920's sedate two-wheeled Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, this beast has two cylinders from a Pratt and Whitney 1340 radial, and a 5.0-litre V-Twin, engine designed for an aeroplane.

Prescott Bike Festival is a 'Must Do' day out for all motorcycling enthusiasts. What's more, all event proceeds of the event go to The Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes and Severn Freewheelers.

Gates Opens at: 08:30am, Track starts at: 10:00am, Festival closes at: 17:00.

Exclusive infield motorcycle parking for Pre-1990 motorcycles; limited numbers, advance booking essential.

Advance general admission tickets cost just £12 and are available online at: www.prescottbikefestival.co.uk

Free parking, free motorcycle side stand puck and free helmet park for bikers
All details of exhibitors and celebrity appearances are available on the website.

Notes to editors:
Event Address: Prescott Bike Festival, Gotherington, nr Cheltenham, GL52 9RD, just 15 minutes from the M5. April 12th 2015.

About The Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes

The Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes is the umbrella organisation representing 24 regional blood bike charities, all providing a motorcycle based, free delivery service to the NHS; moving vital medical supplies, blood and pathology samples from medical centres and hospitals throughout the UK. NABB member groups are closely involved in the transport of frozen human milk from the donor to the milk processing banks. This has been a real lifesaver due to the necessity of very premature babies having intolerance to anything but human milk. Run entirely by volunteers, NABB member groups have over 1500 active members with a fleet of 120+ emergency response vehicles. All NABB riders are trained in the movement of medical essentials and operate from individual regional charities but with a common goal – to alleviate suffering and reduce the funding pressures on the NHS.

Severn Freewheelers is the regional Blood Bike group operating Gloucestershire, Hereford & Worcester and North Wiltshire. Over 70 volunteers help Severn Freewheelers carry out much-needed service. Severn Freewheelers run five BMW R1200RTs and a Honda ST1300; all are emergency response equipped and the members handle some 4,000 call outs per annum, covering 150,000 miles.

Media Contact: Rebecca Leppard, Eventageous PR Ltd on T: 01452 260063, email: Rebecca@eventspr.co.uk

Web & Social Media:

www.bikefestivals.co.uk; www.prescottbikefestival.co.uk; www.shelsleybikefestival.co.uk

On Twitter at https://twitter.com/bike_fest

On Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Prescott-Bike-Festival/275941260263?ref=bookmarks

https://www.facebook.com/shelsleybikefestival?fref=ts

Prescott Bike Festival is kindly sponsored by: Bikesure, Carole Nash, Blade Group, KTM and BMW Motorrad