The NHS are absolutely desperate for blood donations at the moment. What annoys me the most is that only about 4% of the people that can give blood actually do*, and it's such an easy thing to do! I know there will be lots of people who can't or who are scared of needles etc, and I think that's fair enough for them not to donate, but for the rest of us there's no excuse. I donate as regularly as I can because I pretty much lived on a pediatric cancer ward when my sister was ill for 6 months, and I saw just how much the blood helped all the people there- some were having 3+ transfusions a week to keep them alive. So PLEASE give blood, it's so helpful and really won't take you long. You can register here: www.blood.co.uk and that site also allows you to make appointments for your donations and view your donation history, and to look up lots of the information you need if you're a new donor. Instead if you'd like to talk to a real person you can ring 0300 123 23 23, or arrange for them to call you.
And if you don't do it for any other reason, there's free squash and tea and biscuits!
Give blood, give everything
*from blood.co.uk
Image: Photo of me taken by Haydn Robinson
Odd image to add to a request for people to donate blood, because if you have had a tattoo, acupuncture, or a pearcing within 6 months, you can't give blood.
ReplyDeleteOther than that I totally agree with you. Giving blood is something everyone that is able should do, because you never know when it might be your turn to need someone elses donated blood or blood products.
Hey, thanks for your comment!
ReplyDeleteIt's actually just changed to 4 months- the same as the time you should leave between blood donations- as they're so desperate for blood. I don't know if that's permanent or not. I see what you mean about it being an odd image though, I wanted it to be eye catching. Most people who see that photo think I'm really good at photoshop and have made it look real... when actually it is real!
Do you give blood?