Students sign-up for Sudders

Sep 25 2008 by Katie Campling, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

STUDENTS SIGN-UP!

His aim was to get people to sign up as donors when they turned 18, maximising the number of years they would stay on the register ready to help a patient who was a match for a transplant.

The Anthony Nolan Trust (ANT) runs one of the UK’s bone marrow donor registers.

The other – The British Bone Marrow Register – is run by the National Blood Service (NBS).

Both organisations had stalls at the freshers’ fair and said they had a great response.

Nigel Gorvett, ANT donor recruitment manager for the North and East, said: “We’ve given out quite a lot of information packs and quite a few people have said they’ve had a personal connection to bone marrow donation, through family and friends.

“Lots of people have been coming to the stall to see how they can help. I always ask if they know what the ANT do and about 10% do.

“I think young people are quite aware of bone marrow donation, but it takes help, advice and the right facts to get them on board. People hear a lot of horror stories about donation and when you dispel the myths, people are quite receptive. It is just a case of getting the right message out there.”