National Blood Week runs from the 13-19 June, which makes it an ideal time for newbie blood donors to give blood.  NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) are hoping to encourage 10,000 people to start donating blood or as their slogan states, ‘make a date to donate’.

Currently only four per cent of the population in England and Wales actively donates their blood, which is a very low amount and worrying, because around they need around 8,000 donors a day and 230,000 new donors a year to keep up with increased demand on blood resources.  The assistant director of blood donation at NHSBT, Jon Latham states: “Giving blood is almost a social responsibility. The impact it has is immense.”

Many people believe that giving blood is a long and painful process, which explains why so many people are reluctant to do it however that belief could not be farther from the truth. In fact giving blood is a relatively painless process which only takes around 20 minutes. Not a long time really when you think about the lives you could save. For more information on donating blood go to the National Blood Website www.blood.co.uk

Winter is a particularly bad time of year for the National Blood Service, fewer people than normal give blood before Christmas, this means the current blood stocks are worryingly low and National Blood Service struggles to meet demand. Many people do not realise how dependant the NHS is on donated blood that is until they experience the benefits themselves. Shockingly only one in 25 of the UK population regularly donates blood, with the under 30’s least likely to donate.

If you are between the age of 17 and 65, are generally healthy and weigh at least 7st 12lb you will be eligible to give blood every 16 weeks. It’s a very easy process and doesn’t take long at all, you can call or look online on the National Blood Service website to find when and where your nearest session is and arrange an appointment. When you arrive you need to complete a Donor Health Check questionnaire and have a confidential discussion with the nurse who will then take a tiny drop of blood from your fingertip to check your haemoglobin levels, this is to make sure that giving blood won’t make you anaemic. If everything is okay you will then be able to go ahead and donate blood, this will be about 470ml, which is quickly replaced by your body. Once you have given blood you will have to rest for a short time after which you will be given some refreshments before you go, all in all the whole process shouldn’t take any longer than an hour.

Once your blood has been taken it will be sent to one of many blood centres across the country, here the blood will undergo a series of rigorous tests to make sure it’s clear of things like HIV, hepatitis B and C and syphilis. After the blood has been sorted into different types and all the tests are clear it will then be distributed to meet demand and will be used on whoever needs it the most.