Like father, like son

"Giving blood was always something that I'd wanted to do. That made it easier to get started," says James. "Of course, what made it really easy was there being a donor centre literally next door to our house. I was off work one day and decided to pop in."

The rest, as they say, is history. But the future, too, looks bright: James has been joined in his life-saving efforts by his son, Oliver, who is now a fully-fledged donor as well.

Both big cricket fans, James and Oliver are season ticket holders for Birmingham Bears and Birmingham Phoenix. When they're not at Edgbaston, they're at Birmingham Donor Centre, forging a prolific partnership.

And although James went from donating blood to donating plasma, Oliver started giving plasma off the bat.

"I was a little unsure when I received the call asking if I would try plasma donation instead, but I was quickly reassured," says James, who had eight years of blood donation under his belt at the time.

"I'm really glad that I said yes now. Changing from blood to plasma was straightforward and the staff at the Birmingham Donor Centre are really good. They really helped to put me at ease."

Birmingham is one of three donor centres where you can give plasma, alongside Reading and Twickenham. More donors are needed in all three areas to make the unique, lifesaving medicines on which 17,000 people rely every year.

"Oli and I have a competition between us when we donate to see who can finish the fastest. Unfortunately, he's moved further away with work and we aren't able to both go into Birmingham as regularly as we'd like, but we still try to get the train in and donate together whenever we can.

"We know plasma donations make a real difference. The staff are really friendly and accommodating and you are able to donate more regularly than giving blood."

Because the recovery time after giving plasma is shorter than with blood, you can donate more frequently: donors can give plasma as often as every 2 weeks.

The medicines made from donated plasma treat over 50 different diseases and are often the only treatment option for patients.

"Plasma donation is an amazing thing to do," says James. "Doing it together, though, is really special."

You can donate plasma whether you have given blood before, like James, or not.

Find out more about changing from blood to plasma donation.

Find out more about registering to donate plasma as a new donor.