Your safety is our priority

During these challenging times, we’d like to thank all of you for your continued support. Your willingness and perseverance, especially in the face of the new level of restrictions imposed on daily life, have been remarkable.

We applaud your dedication to the cause of saving lives, supporting families, and improving the health of communities.

While the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccination programme progresses, we must remain vigilant and help to stem the spread of infection by following Government advice.

Safety is our priority

Our sessions are still open and the safety of donors and staff remains our priority.

As well as adapting our sessions to allow for social distancing, all our venues benefit from high hygiene standards and new deep-cleaning procedures, alongside extra hand sanitisers and PPE.

Donation chairs are wiped before and after each donation and our staff are cleaning all surfaces, such as door handles, tables, and laminated leaflets, regularly. We have also removed hot drinks at sessions in order to reduce infection risk.

If you are due to donate soon, please make sure that you:

• Read the Coronavirus health rules for donors here;
• Bring and wear a fabric face covering – this does not have to be a surgical mask but should cover your nose and mouth;
• Attend alone – it is vitally important that you come to the venue on your own, to help minimise social contact and infection risk in the building.

Remember, giving blood is essential travel and is permitted under lockdown restrictions.

You can find more information on how to plan your donation here.

Please keep to your appointments

We know that COVID-19 can make it harder to keep your appointment. Unfortunately, many donors cancel at the last moment, leaving appointments empty.

Please keep your appointment if you can, but if you can’t make it for any reason, let us know as soon as possible by calling 0300 123 23 23 or cancelling online.

Donating after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine

Donors must wait seven days after receiving a COVID-19 vaccination, before donating.

After that period, you may donate blood if you are symptom-free. Please rearrange your booking for a later date if you have received the vaccine less than seven days prior to your next appointment.

Please donate at one of our city centre venues if you can

The latest lockdown rules mean fewer people are travelling into city centres to work and shop. That means our inner-city donor centres have more appointments available than usual.

If you live or work close to one of our donor centres, please make your appointment there if you can – you may find it much easier to find one that suits you.

Please accept our apologies if we make last minute adjustments

We do our best to plan for all contingencies to ensure we keep our sessions running as usual, but with social distancing at sessions, we can’t always make room for as many donors as we would like.

We may also need to close certain venues due to bad weather, or handle staff shortages owing to illness, but we only cancel appointments or entire sessions as a last resort. Please accept our apologies if your appointment is cancelled. Our helpline team is always on hand to help you book another one as soon as possible.

Thank you again

We would like to say a huge thank you to all donors. We appreciate your patience and understanding; your blood and component donations during this time are more important than ever.

Thank you for your life-saving support.