We are delighted to promote Blood Donor Day with our partners NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT).
From 14 June - World Blood Donor Day – there is a new form to complete when donating.
In the announcement of this change Minister for Blood Donation, Lord Bethell, said: “Today marks another significant step forward in our ambition to make blood donation policy fairer and more inclusive, allowing as many people as possible to make the life-saving decision to give blood safely.
“I want to thank members of the FAIR steering group, including LGBT charities, who have been instrumental in enabling us to get to this moment.
“I encourage everyone who is able to: register to donate.”
In 2021, the World Blood Donor Day slogan is “Give blood and keep the world beating”. The message highlights the essential contribution blood donors make to keeping the world pulsating by saving lives and improving others' health.
Donors also help with research. NHSTBT and the NIHR BioResource have a long history of collaborating in a successful partnership. For example, we have worked together on the national COMPARE and INTERVAL studies. INTERVAL looked at whether donation intervals should be tailored to donors by age, gender, genetic profile and other characteristics and COMPARE investigated three different types of testing haemoglobin levels in blood donors. Results from both studies can be found on the publications pages of their websites.
More recently, there is an ongoing national study run jointly by NHSBT and the BioResource that is called STRIDES (STRategies to Improve Donor ExperienceS). STRIDES is looking at ways of improving the donor experience, NHSBT is doing this by asking donors to implement potential changes in relation to:
- the leaflets that donors read before donation,
- the drinks offered in the waiting area, and
- advice given during and after donation.
When joining STRIDES, donors can also consent to the NIHR BioResource where they have the opportunity to take part in future research studies.
STRIDES has recruited over one million people since the study’s launch in November 2019. It celebrated its one millionth recruit on 6 May 2021.
In an article on reaching this magnificent milestone Ella Poppitt, Chief Nurse - Blood Donation, at NHSBT said:
“We are extremely grateful to every donor that has contributed and the efforts on the ground by the blood collection and research teams to enable this to happen.
This study will improve the effectiveness of interventions on a blood donation session that will make donation even safer for the donor.”
The BioResource has over 90,000 blood donors on its panel to date, all willing to participate in research.
For more information about joining the BioResource see our Participant Pages
World Donor Day aims to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products for transfusion, and of the critical contribution voluntary, unpaid blood donors make to national health systems around the globe.
Thank you to all blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood, today and every day.