NHS blood Donation Lorry at Bellingham Leisure & Lifestyle Centre
On Friday 23rd October Bellingham Leisure & Lifestyle Centre will be hosting an NHS blood donation lorry
The lorry will be based in the car park at Bellingham Leisure & Lifestyle Centre from 12.30pm on the 23rd.
Bookings can be made online via the blood donation link https://www.blood.co.uk/
Due to demand the NHS blood service have added additional dates at the centre which will be on
- Friday 20th November
- Tuesday 24th November
The session on Friday 20th November will start at 10.30am and on Tuesday 24th November will start at 12.30pm
The NHS blood services are always looking for donors are especially keen on attracting people who have black heritage on becoming blood donors.
Did you know
- In 1 hour, you could help save up to 3 lives
- The blood donation experience takes about an hour in total. Giving blood itself takes around 5 to 10 minutes
You will donate in four easy steps:
- A quick health check looking at your travel, medical and sexual history
- An iron test (a small drop of blood is taken via a little pin prick to your finger)
- Sit back and give blood
- Save lives - enjoy a drink and a biscuit afterwards, and book your next appointment via our app
We welcome every new donor who joins the growing numbers of people who donate their blood to save lives.
Priority blood types
At the same time there is increased demand for some priority blood types such as O negative; vital in emergencies as it is the only universal blood type which can be safely given to anyone regardless of their own blood type, and Ro subtype which is needed to help treat a growing number of people affected by sickle cell.
Sickle cell is most common amongst people from Black African, Black Caribbean and Mixed heritage.
Black people are 10 times more likely than White people to have Ro blood subtype, which is vital to fight sickle cell.
- In 2022, our hospitals needed 47,677 units of Ro blood for people fighting sickle cell.
- 3% of blood donors have Ro subtype (26,000 donors in 2023)
- 250 blood donations a day are needed to help people affected by sickle cell.
- 56% of Black blood donors have Ro blood subtype.
We hope to have the blood donation lorry attend Bellingham Leisure and Lifestyle Centre on a regular basis to compliment the offer we have in the centre and cement ourselves as being a community venue offering more than just health and fitness.
If you're the giving type, join the thousands of people giving blood every day.