Students at Ripon Grammar School have recently been informed about the opportunity to register as bone marrow, blood, and organ donors as part as a national campaign to educate 16-18 year old students about the importance of donation.
Steve Silver, a volunteer from blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan, was invited to deliver presentations to Ripon Grammar students for a second time after the positive response he received on his visit last year.
Steve is a Ripon resident whose sons both attended the school – he joined the Anthony Nolan register in 1996 when a colleague contracted Leukaemia and subsequently died from post-operative complications after receiving a transplant.
Steve began volunteering for the charity in 2010, delivering presentations in the Yorkshire area after Register & Be a Lifesaver asked for volunteer presenters to speak to young adults, continuing with the awareness Campaign.
Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer.
There are around 1700 people in the UK in need of a bone marrow, or blood stem cell, transplant – this is usually their last chance of survival.
Anthony Nolan uses its register to match potential bone marrow donors to blood cancer patients in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant, but at present the demand for marrow far outweighs supply.
Mr Silver said:
The Anthony Nolan Register and Be a Lifesaver program is an excellent way to introduce young people to the idea of donation. It gives them the opportunity to do something incredible and potentially save a life. We always hope the people we speak to are really inspired by the presentation and that more schools in the area will sign up to the program.
Anthony Nolan volunteers like myself are always pleased to see students taking such an interest in our cause. This is now the second time I have spoken at the school and for the second time we’ve received a very positive response, with many students expressing interest in joining the register.
Katie Day, the Register and Be a Lifesaver Supervisor at Anthony Nolan, says:
It is brilliant to see that schools are engaged with our education program about donation. We know that young people make the best donors for people with blood cancer so it’s hugely important to involve students in the campaign.’
A bone marrow donation can be a cure for people with blood cancer, such as Leukaemia. Joining the bone marrow register is very simple and involves just filling in a form and giving a saliva sample. In 90% of cases, the donation procedure is similar to giving blood.
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Terry Fell, Head of Sixth Form at Ripon Grammar, said:
As our sixth form students finish their schooling and make the transition into adult life, with its many huge decisions, we feel it is important that they are aware of one decision open to them which could save someone’s life.
Steve will also be delivering two presentations about Anthony Nolan at HarrogateHigh School later this week.
More information about the education program and the bone marrow register can be found at: www.anthonynolan.org
Key Facts
Anthony Nolan uses its register to match potential bone marrow donors to blood cancer patients in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant.
We need more young men aged 16-30 to sign up to the bone marrow register, as they are more likely to be asked to donate. Men account for 80% of bone marrow donations. Men produce more stem cells than women but they are under-represented on the register.
We urgently need people from Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds to sign up to the bone marrow register. It is more difficult for people from these backgrounds to find a suitable match due to the diversity of tissue types within an ethnic minority population and BAME donors are under-represented on the bone marrow register.
Register and Be a Lifesaver (R&Be)
Since March 2009, R&Be has delivered more than 1,300 presentations and reached more than 80,000 students.
R&Be currently works in more than 400 schools in London, the Midlands, Yorkshire, Merseyside and Bristol.
Anthony Nolan has received more than 11,000 expressions of interest in joining the register following R&Be talks.
To date, more than 3,300 students have registered as donors with Anthony Nolan following R&Be presentations.
On 1 October 2012, Anthony Nolan changed their joining policy so that people aged 16-30 can join the bone marrow register (rather than over 18).
Bone marrow donors
Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer.
There are around 1700 people in the UK in need of a bone marrow, or blood stem cell, transplant. This is usually their last chance of survival.
70% of patients will not find a matching donor from within their families; instead they turn to us to find them an unrelated donor.
We can only find a suitable donor for around half the people who need a lifesaving bone marrow transplant.
White Northern Europeans have a 90% chance of finding a bone marrow donor. This falls to just 40% for people from Black, Asian, and Ethnic Minority backgrounds.
90% of donations take place via PBSC (peripheral blood stem cell collection). This is an outpatient appointment and is similar to donating blood.
To join the register, you must be aged between 16 and 30, weigh more than 8 stone (51kg) and be in general good health. For more information about our work or to sign up online, please visit www.anthonynolan.org.
Blood and organ donors
7,459 people are waiting to receive a donated organ.
Last year, 535 people died waiting for a suitable organ to become available.
90% of people think organ donation is a good idea, but just 31% of people are on the Organ Donor Register.
7,000 units of blood are needed every day.
Each unit of donated blood can help three people.
England holds blood stocks for around 10 days’ supply.
