Become a lifesaver: give blood!
Every year in the UK, the National Blood Service collects and processes over two million donations. 7,000 blood donors are needed each day to maintain vital supplies to hospitals.
Rebecca Khan from the organisation, which depends entirely on voluntary donations from the public, explains the importance and necessity of giving blood.
Although currently the blood bank houses 42,000 donations, Rebecca insists that, "we musn’t ever rest on our laurels, we do need people to keep coming forward." Blood is perishable; lasting only 35 days in total, whilst platelets taken from donated blood last only 5 days. The shelf life of blood makes stock replenishment all the more vital; particularly at certain times of year such as Christmas and bank holidays when people often become ill with colds and flu.
According to the Service, "currently only 4% of the eligible population give blood." Donor elegibility is largely age and weight dependent: if you are aged between 17 and 65 and weigh over 7 stone 12 pounds you could potentially give blood, providing of course that you are in good health. The process is relatively short and simple; Rebecca says that it can take “between 5 minutes and 15 minutes,” and stresses that after the donation has been collected “we let you rest, we take very good care of you… and then after...you’ll get that ever famous cup of tea and a biscuit." Having then rested for as little or long as you need you are then able to go on and continue your day as normal.
Donating blood provides the opportunity to provide a product that is, adds Rebecca, "quite simply saving life for somebody," and as such the experience has a unique feel-good factor.
For more information please view:
The National Blood Service website
You can also call the National Blood Service on 0845 7 711 711 or request to be contacted by the Service by filling in this short form
