A potentially life-saving donation has been made to a York Hospital charity - in memory of a big-hearted patrol man.

The family of North York Moors AA patrol man Bertil Wilson presented a car to the Whiteknights at York Hospital.

Bertil patrolled the North York Moors for 35 years from the 1950s to the 1980s, initially on a motorbike and sidecar and was well known in his local community for his work.

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The car, a Skoda Fabia, is named 'Boy Wilson' in Bertil’s honour and has been liveried accordingly, with specialist designs in place to ensure that its role is clear to anyone who may come into contact with the vehicle.

Boy Wilson will be manned by volunteer drivers and used to transport urgent blood specimen samples, donated breast milk, and medications at no cost to the NHS – something which will allow funding to be provided to other in demand areas.

Previously, volunteers have been reliant on their own vehicles, most commonly motorbikes, regardless of any adverse weather conditions. Having a car will allow a safer method of delivery and open up further options for volunteers to get involved – ensuring the service can be extended further to help even more people in need.

In 2023, Whiteknights Yorkshire Blood Bikes made more than 3,000 urgent deliveries for hospitals and hospices and travelled a total of 91,000 miles across the region.