New Year, new you; why not give blood this year? #52KindWeeks

We have had a couple of weeks off in our #52KindWeeks series, but we are back and this time with a really important message. Give Blood.

It is a simple thing to do; but can make a massive difference to many, many people’s lives:

• Less than 3% of people give blood actively; can you imagine the difference it would make if we just increased that figure, even just by a little? 900,000 people gave blood in 2017; why can’t we make that over a million at least in 2018?
• The NHS Blood and Transplant unit needs to get 1.5mill units of blood a year to meet the demand in the UK; that is an awful lot of blood required to manage and help those that really need it
• Each year, 200,000 NEW donors need to step forward to replace those that can no longer donate for whatever reason. Sadly, this includes myself in the last 12 months. Unfortunately, due to ill health – I can no longer donate. I have done so 15 times since I started, but now it isn’t possible for me to do so. However, maybe YOU can, and
• Finally, you CAN do it multiple times within the year, if you can get to a donation session. For female donors, it is possible to do so every 16 weeks. For male donors, it is 12 weeks. Platelets can be donated once every two weeks.

So this week, the #52KindWeeks is a request for you to make a resolution to give blood this year if you can. It could really save a life. Really.

As you can see, the process is relatively simple as well – and isn’t as big a thing as you might think. Yes, there is a needle, but there are drinks and biscuits too ;-)

For those of us that can no longer donate, all we can do is urge others to do so. Blood donation really can make a difference, we have probably all been touched by an occasion when someone close to us has been saved by someone else’s kindness from a donation.

Reasons for transfusions are many from:

• Those that have had transfusions after childbirth,
• People who need transfusions because of blood disorders, such as Myelodysplastic Syndrome, Leukaemia, and unresponsive/severe Sickle Cell Anaemia
• Trauma victims, that need emergency transfusions after a car crash, or another accident, and
• Babies in neonatal units whose life has started with an incredible challenge for survival.

Make 2018 the year YOU make a difference with this simple act of kindness. Go on.

Have a look online where you can donate blood, and book it into the diary!

If there are any stories you have about giving blood, or you would like to share any other kindness tales, then please do share with us in the linky below. Happy for old new posts, or anything else in between! You can also link to just social media posts if you want to – if it has a url, it is fair game!

We hope you can take part in #52KindWeeks this year. A simple initiative to encourage kindness every week, every year. Start with making that resolution to give blood. If you want to help promote blood donation; why not check out these social media images on the NHS Blood donation site?

Helen

Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!

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