Blood donors needed from the Black community

The Afro Caribbean Leukaemia Trust will be hosting their third annual Daniel De-Gale Blood Donation Week between 3-7 October.

The ACLT, a voluntary charity, is looking to encourage the Black & Mixed Race community to register as new and regular blood donors by donating blood for transfusion purposes, even if they are already on the bone marrow register.

ACLT co-founders Beverley De-Gale and Orin Lewis host the annual Blood Donation Week in tribute to their son Daniel, who suffered from Leukaemia as a child but was able to find a suitable bone marrow donor when he was 12 which allowed him to complete his education and get to University. Daniel unfortunately died on October 8th 2008 aged just 21 years of age, but his legacy lives on.

ACLT encourages people from across the UK to register and donate blood on a regular basis so that they may help those who were in the same position as Daniel and give them a few more years of life.

During the last three-to-four years of his life, he had been diagnosed with Haemolytic Anaemia (abnormal breakdown of red blood cells) and became reliant on receiving 3-5 units of blood every week. The generosity of the (primarily) white British community, helped to preserve Daniel's life, enabling him to live to see his 21st Birthday.

The statistics of people that give blood in the UK is 4%, a mere 0.45% of these donors are black. Many of the Black community are unaware of this fact which is why ACLT aim to increase the awareness. According to the charity, just one unit of blood can save up to three lives and they are encouraging the African and Caribbean community to donate blood to make a positive difference.

There are a number of locations where people can donate blood during the week including Central London, Birmingham, Croydon, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester.

For more information about ACLT and the the Daniel De-Gale Blood Donation Week, click here.