Latest stories

Read the latest Donor stories here...

Other ways blood is used

Your donation could be used to save lives in less direct ways, such as developing new treatments for medical conditions like arthritis and multiple sclerosis, researching diseases including liver failure, and training police sniffer dogs...

British Transplant Games

Born with a rare condition, Ava needed lots of hospital admissions. After the transplant, Ava learned to eat - something she has never done before...

Are you the #GivingType?

We’ve just celebrated National Blood Week! The NHS needs 140,000 more giving types to donate blood – can you help?…

Recharging Ruby’s batteries

Ruby is nearing her second birthday but has been receiving blood transfusions every three weeks for the last year and a half. Diagnosed with the rare mitochondrial disorder, Pearson’s syndrome...

Elliot gives blood for the first time

A newsletter on blood donation is the last place you’d usually find me. My whole life I’ve been afraid of blood and, up until a few months back, the idea of donating it was a pipe dream.

Saving lives this spring

With bank holidays and school breaks, April and May are traditionally difficult months to keep a steady supply of blood products to hospitals maintained.

Lavanya and her family

Meet the Donor - Lavanya Rathish

In 2011, I donated a kidney to my husband, as I wanted to give him the chance to live a full and active life again. When my husband was diagnosed with kidney disease, it was a terrible shock.

128 people a year to keep me alive

Calvin was diagnosed with sickle cell disorder at just six months old and holds the record – at two years and eight months – of the longest inpatient stay at University College London Hospital.

80 units of blood and a 21-mile swim

Following a motorcycle accident, Andrew Smith’s life was saved after receiving blood. Last year, alongside other amputees, Andrew took on one of the most challenging sea swims in the world.

The gift of life - a thank you letter

When he was suddenly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in 2021, my late 74-year-old father, Sam Thomas received countless transfusions of red blood cells and platelets.