A BLOOD cancer charity is calling on residents to help patients across the country battling the diseases.

The team at Anthony Nolan has said it needs more Oxfordshire residents to join its fight in saving more lives of cancer sufferers,

It is in desperate need of more people under the age of 30 to come forward and join its bone marrow register so it can provide more matches for people in need.

The national charity said it is on the lookout particularly for young men and people from ethnic minority backgrounds - both of which are underrepresented on the register.

The three main types of blood cancer are leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma, with a person in the UK being diagnosed with a blood cancer disease every 20 minutes.

Anthony Nolan uses its register to match potential bone marrow donors to blood cancer patients in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant.

About 2,000 people in the UK need of a bone marrow transplant every year, which is usually their last chance of survival.

But the charity said two thirds of patients will not find a matching donor in their families and are forced to turn to strangers for help.

Residents who sign up to join the charity's register are sent a spit kit in the post to provide a quick saliva sample.

Most people then donate using the peripheral blood stem cell collection, similar to giving blood, or have to have stem cells collected under general anaesthetic.

To join the register, you must weigh more than 7st 12lbs and be in general good health.

See anthonynolan.org