Do you know what blood group you belong to? Well now Whitehall Riverside Building staff can find out and register as new blood donors.
Arcadis have arranged for the NHS Blood and Transplant Service to run a ‘What’s Your Blood Type’ event in the main Reception area Office on Tuesday 19th November to recruit new blood donors. A stand will be set up in the main Reception area, so pop over anytime between 10:30am and 2.30pm.
What happens at the event?
People thinking of becoming a blood donor will have a finger prick test (no big needles involved!) which gives a likely indication of their blood group within a couple of minutes (Click here to watch a short video about the finger prick test, and learn more about blood types). They are then invited to register and book an appointment to donate at their nearest local blood donation center.
Why donate blood?
Nearly 6,000 donations are needed every day to meet the need of patients in England. Blood is used to treat critically ill patients, whether they have had cancer or other blood disorders, been in an accident, having surgery or after childbirth. The blood people donate is precious – it saves lives.
Nadine Eaton, Head of Blood Donation Marketing for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “We always need new donors, especially people with rare and valuable blood groups such as O negative and B negative. We’re really pleased to be able to hold this event at No1 Whitehall Riverside.
“People find blood groups fascinating and there any many different combinations. However all blood donors save lives and we need donors from all groups. NHS Blood and Transplant needs 250,000 new donors this year to replace those who no longer donate for reasons such as ill health, pregnancy or foreign travel and to ensure we have the right mix of blood groups to match patient needs in the future”.
Can’t make it that day?
If you can’t attend the blood type testing event at No1, you can still donate blood. There are 23 dedicated blood donor centres across England, click here to register and attend your local centre direct. You can also book through mobile apps for Windows, Android and Apple devices. To download the app, search ‘NHSGiveBlood’ in the app store.
For further information on whether you can give blood, and more about the service please visit the NHS Blood & Transplant website.