Its National Blood Week.
From 13th to 19th June the National Blood service is hosting a whole raft of events to thank current and past donors and try to encourage new donors to come forward and start donating. See www.blood.co.uk for more information.
Having been fortunate enough to live abroad for a few years, I know first hand how other countries struggle to get blood when its needed. Where I lived there was no formal donation programme to provide continuous supplies and they relied on public announcements and television requests when there was a particular need. Not ideal if you are in urgent need of a tranfusion to stay alive!
As soon as I got back to the UK I signed up to donate and have happily given blood every 4 months for the last 7-8 years.
Its a really simple and almost painless process - honestly. Yes you feel quite a sharp scratch when the needle is placed in your arm, but its only momentary and then the actual donation process is really comfortable. It takes about 10-15 miinutes to donate and then you're done and off to continue your day. You even get a nice cup of tea and a biscuit, oh, and a sticker too if you like stickers!
Come on everyone, if you're aged between 17 and 65 and generally healthy get down to your nearest session and give up your arm for this amazing cause. We try to list as many local sessions as possible through our events pages so you should be able to find a date and time to suit you somewhere close.
99.9% of us would accept a transfusion if we needed it, so shouldn't we be as happy to give our blood for others when we can..?
....and if you're wondering, I've recently heard that there is now a more formal programme of donation being set up in the town where I used to live. Great news, lets hope its really successful and helps to save many, many lives.
