Donors in Oxfordshire urged to register as part of National Blood Week

NHS Blood and Transplant is urging people in Oxfordshire to register as new blood donors during its Missing Type initiative, launched today as part of National Blood Week.

The organisation is highlighting an international fall of almost 30 per cent in donors last year compared to a decade ago.

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There are four main blood groups – O, A, B and AB – and the O Negative, A Negative and B Negative groups are particularly vulnerable to shortfalls.

In Oxfordshire, half of all donors are over 45, so more young donors are needed and more black and Asian donors are needed to reflect the ethnic diversity of patients.

Cheryl Howarth, manager of the Oxford Blood Donor Centre, said: "Only four per cent of people give blood and that figure is slipping so we do need more people to come forward.

"The situation in the rest of the country is reflected in Oxfordshire – only seven per cent of the population are O Negative and that's the universal blood group, which means it can be given to anyone straight away in the event of a major crisis, like a big crash on the motorway.

"As well as needing more young and black and Asian donors, we need new donors from all communities because that will help us to tackle the shortfall in missing blood types."

Richard Russon, 45, a computer programmer from Jericho, made his 82nd donation yesterday.

He said: "More people should come forward. I started when I was 18 and have never looked back – every time you donate it helps to save lives."

Bonita Bryan, 23, an events management graduate from Headington, donated blood for the first time.

She said: "Other young people should do it – you know you are making a massive difference."

Last year 15,092 people in Oxfordshire gave blood at least once, including 4,619 people in Oxford.

Key campaign supporters include Oxford BMW and staff at the Cowley plant are taking finger prick tests on Friday to establish their blood types.

Andrew Cooke, BMW lead specialist for health management, said: "We’re delighted to be working with NHS Blood and Transplant to help raise awareness as part of its initiative.

"We’ll be running an event at the MINI plant in Oxford so people can find out more about how to become a blood donor.”

Last year 10.7 per cent of donors in Oxfordshire were aged 17 to 24, while 52.9 per cent were aged 45 or over.

And in Oxford last year 12.8 per cent of donors in Oxford were aged 17 to 24, and 56.4 per cent were aged 45 and over.

Mike Stredder, director of Blood Donation at NHS Blood and Transplant – the service that collects, tests and processes blood for hospitals across England – said: "Blood donation is an amazing gift and transfusions save lives in Oxfordshire every day.

"Whether it is patients receiving treatment for cancer, blood disorders, after accidents or during surgery, or new mums who have lost blood in childbirth, blood is an absolutely essential part of modern healthcare.

"Despite overall blood use in hospitals declining, we need more young donors to safeguard blood donation for future generations.

"And it’s vital the blood donor community reflects the diversity of the population because blood types vary across communities and patients need well-matched blood.

"We particularly need people with blood groups O negative and A negative to come forward and people from black and South Asian communities.

"We have a dedicated blood donor centre at the John Radcliffe Hospital, which is the perfect place to donate blood for the first time."

In a survey for Missing Type in April, participating blood services reported the number of people becoming donors and giving blood for the first time was 1,830,003 in 2005 and 1,324,980 last year – a drop of 27.6 per cent.

But in June last year Oxfordshire saw a boost in blood donors following an Oxford Mail campaign to get people signing up to help save lives across the county’s hospitals.

Almost 500 people in the county registered to give blood compared to 160 in the same period the previous year after the paper called on its readers to sign up as part of National Blood Donor week.