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DONORS: More than 70 people donated blood at the event

BLACK DONORS gave up their time and their blood at a special event organised to encourage more donors from African and Caribbean backgrounds last week.

The special blood donation event was organised in partnership with The Wall of Comedy, Word on the Curb, and sickle cell organisations Sicklekan, Unsickle My Cells, We Are Not the Same and Sickle Cell Unite.

Kehinde Salami, founder and CEO of Sicklekan Sickle Cell Foundation, said: “It was a fantastic occasion which saw black blood donors turn up to donate numbers that have not been seen before supporting the sickle cell community, making sickle cell a major topic of conversation.”

The event was part of the NHS’s targeted campaign activity to find new blood donors who can help improve the lives the 15,000 people in the UK who live with sickle cell disease.

Those living with sickle cell disease need life-saving blood from black donors, who provide the closest match to their own blood type.

At the event held at St Laurence church, Catford, last Friday, more than 70 people donated their blood – including the Mayor of Bromley Kathy Bance MBE.

The Wall of Comedy’s Joivan Wade and Sideman All Day also attended and donated blood.

There are currently not enough people from the black community giving blood. To meet demands, 40,000 new black donors are urgently needed to come forward to register and donate.

For more information on how to donate, visit www.blood.co.uk

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