Appeal for black and Asian blood donors under new drive

When you donate blood you will be sent a donor card with your blood group. By knowing your type, you may be able to help at a time when patients in Scotland need you most.

The Missing Type campaign hopes to reverse the worldwide decline in new donors and this year 25 blood services from 21 countries are involved.

The campaign, run by NHS Blood and the London-based PR agency Engine Group, is asking business around the globe “to “drop” the letters of the main blood groups to show support for blood donation and register to give blood”.

In Tyne and Wear, there is also a particular need for more black and south Asian donors.

The number of people becoming donors for the first time in England actually fell by 24.4per cent in 2015.

A’s, B’s and O’s are disappearing from brands names and iconic locations.

Bobbi McBurnie, 14, who received blood transfusions for the first two years of her life after she was born prematurely weighing less than 2lb, has taken part in an worldwide film for the campaign and said the donations saved her life.

Celebrities supporting the campaign include actress Jamie Lee Curtis and rapper LL Cool J, and local celebs Thapelo Mokoena, Zizo Beda, KhayaMthethwa, IFani, Bokang, Mzokoloko Gumede, Christopher Jaftha, Joe Mann, Sandile Kubheka, Cameron Classens and Phindi Gule.

The NHS wants more people in Buckinghamshire to give blood. Something as simple as a cough tore a hole in Adrian’s oesophagus, causing internal bleeding and requiring two units of blood and a short stay in hospital.

Researchers also discovered just 38% of people in Scotland claim to know their blood type, rising to 61% among those who have given blood. “I saw the difference transfusions made to him”. She said: “Without those blood products, I would not be here now”.

Mr Stredder said there is no current crisis in blood stocks, but that more donors are needed for the future. Those who donated blood earlier this summer may be eligible to donate again. Regular blood donations are crucial to saving and improving the lives of patients with cancer, blood disorders and those suffering medical trauma or undergoing surgery.

A new campaign is being launched today to urge more Irish people to donate blood. “Giving blood is such an easy thing to do and it has incredible results”.

For 2016, the campaign has gone global with 21 countries joining the call for blood donors with companies in Australia, America, South Africa, Japan, Belgium and Ireland all dropping their letters.