Heart to Heart

People across the country are being encouraged to have a 'heart to heart' as part of a new campaign to get people from Black and South Asian backgrounds talking about blood and organ donation.

The 'Heart-to-Heart' campaign was launched on 23^rd March 2021 by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) together with popular food brand, Tropical Sun – a leading importer of specialist ingredients and daily essentials for ethnic communities.

The campaign messages are featuring on Tropical Sun’s packets of rice and tins of jackfruit. The aim is to spark life-saving conversations in the kitchen and around the dinner table about blood and organ donation.  The campaign also features quotes from people whose lives have been impacted by blood or organ donation.

So, you can read about Manoj and his family. Manoj made the decision to donate his wife, Leela’s, organs after her sudden death. Then there’s heart recipient Makena, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This is a condition in which the left ventricle and main blood vessel of the heart do not develop properly, leaving the heart unable to pump blood effectively. There’s also Gabriel, along with his Mum, Edith. Gabriel has sickle cell disorder and needs regular blood transfusions.

In addition to the on-pack promotions, Tropical Sun have also recruited some well-known celebrities to donate blood and record personal reflections on organ donation. The cast includes actress Nina Wadia, Radio 1 DJ Richie Brave, and Ricky Whittle from Hollyoaks.

Throughout the campaign, we have been sharing video content on our social media platforms and encouraging stakeholders to share these on their channels too. Videos have been well-received, with lots of views and shares. One video in particular managed to change someone’s perception of organ donation and inspired them to register as an organ donor.

The Heart to Heart campaign has received coverage in The Voice newspaper, Janomot British-Bengali newspaper and the Asian Standard, just to name a few. We’ve also had tremendous support from local mayors and councillors, who have been able to promote the campaign to even wider audiences.