THE “Sudders Effect” is still proving hugely successful.

A massive surge in the number of people applying to become bone marrow donors has been attributed to the campaign led by Examiner journalist Adrian Sudbury.

The Anthony Nolan Trust, which keeps one of the UK’s two bone marrow registers, says it has had 1,222 enquiries since Adrian began his campaign to raise awareness about the need for donors on May 19.

This compares to just 500 for the same period last year.

Adrian, 26, is dying from the leukaemia he has battled for 18 months. He is dedicating his last weeks to getting more donors to sign up to the register and pushing the Government to educate all 17- and 18-year-olds about donation as standard.

Adrian has been sharing his 18-month journey with the world via his award-winning online diary, Baldy’s Blog.

Since the campaign launched, the blog has become the site referring the fourth highest number to the Anthony Nolan Trust website.

Among the 1,222 enquiries, 800 people have asked to join up as donors. A further 150 people have signed up as donors via clinics held as part of the campaign, including one at the House of Commons on June 25.

That event saw 14 people sign up, including two cabinet ministers. Many more MPs took away campaign information and signed the Examiner’s online petition to get better education about donation in schools and colleges.

The petition can be found at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/bone-marrow

So far, more than 6,600 people have signed the petition and we are aiming to collect at least 10,000 signatures by the time it closes on July 23.

Ideally, we would like to see 16,000 people put their names to the petition – the same as the number of people in the world currently waiting for a bone marrow transplant.

A spokeswoman for the Anthony Nolan Trust said: “There has been a surge of interest from the public following Adrian’s call for better education on bone marrow donation.

“Our media centre has been inundated with calls from journalists keen to highlight Adrian’s campaign. The charity has also seen increased support from MPs and strong backing from the Secretaries of State in connection with this campaign.

“This is testament to Adrian’s perseverance to raise awareness about the importance of bone marrow donation and dispel the myths of what is involved.”

The Anthony Nolan Trust has compared Adrian’s efforts to those of Shirley Nolan, who campaigned tirelessly to set up the bone marrow register after her son Anthony died in the 1970s.

The spokeswoman said: “Adrian’s campaign helps bring the issues of bone marrow donation to a wider audience.

“Adrian’s campaign has helped us to highlight the work of The Anthony Nolan Trust.

“Enquiries from people who want to do something positive by joining the register will make a significant difference to our work, helping those whose only hope of survival is a bone marrow transplant. We commend his fighting spirit and desire to improve the life of others.”

The Anthony Nolan Trust is currently working with the Examiner, Adrian and Colne Valley MP Kali Mountford to move the campaign forward.

Ms Mountford is writing to Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, to ask whether funding would be available to help set up regular clinics in set venues, so that people know where to sign up.

She is also chasing up plans that were mooted by Mr Johnson and Prime Minister Gordon Brown to create a video which would educate people about bone marrow donation.

She said: “I would like to see the video to go out nationally with a TV campaign similar to the one about giving blood. This would great as well as using the video in schools to educate young people. It is something that should be easy to access for people of all ages.”

Ms Mountford said she will not be relaxing her campaign efforts.

“We are up against hot competition for people’s attention. For instance there are millions dying of Aids in Africa, so people may ask why we’re worried about 16,000 people dying because of lack of a bone marrow donor.

“But this something we should be able to do something about and help those people. There is a solution for this problem, a quite easy solution. Other issues will keep coming up and we have to make sure this stays in people’s minds.”

If you’re aged between 18 -40, there is a chance for you to sign up and become a potential lifesaver at an Anthony Nolan Trust and Examiner clinic at Huddersfield Town Hall on July 8, from 2pm to 7pm.