A new mobile blood collection team has been launched in the West Midlands, with a pop-up shop open this week inside the Mander Community Hub at the Mander Shopping Centre in Wolverhampton. The shop allows local residents to sign up as new donors, learn about blood donation, and even find out their blood type.
The NHS says blood stocks are under pressure this winter, and the new mobile team is designed to increase donations across the region. More than 430 appointment slots are now available each week, which the NHS says could help save over 1,200 lives.
Joanne Seddon-Dite (pictured), Regional Community Engagement Manager at NHS Blood and Transplant, explained why donation is more crucial than ever.
“We have experienced over the last couple of years shortages of certain blood types. Last year, we went into Amber Alert, which means we have to inform hospitals to be really careful with … how they transfuse blood to patients. We need to try and build our donor base with more donors of O negative, B negative, and also the Ro subtype.”
Just 2% of the UK population currently donates, and the NHS says it urgently needs more people to sign up to help stabilise blood supplies, especially those from communities with rare or high-demand blood groups.
Head of Community Engagement at NHS Blood and Transplant, Suzanne Roe, said bringing donation services into community spaces can have a major impact.
“I think a mobile service is really important because it gives more flexibility and more opportunities to donate. I think the more that we can go out into the community to talk about the importance of donation, and to let people know their blood types, that will hopefully encourage people to register, and in turn, hopefully, encourage people to go on and donate.”
“The more opportunities to donate in those mobile sessions is great, because that just gives greater sort of appointment availability and in particular, if it’s in a local community that the public are familiar with, that’s really important. That sort of local knowledge and local presence, I think, really matters.”
Seddon-Dite said Wolverhampton is a key location for boosting blood stocks.
“This new Wolverhampton team will be out in the community collecting blood in a really diverse part of the country. We know that the Midlands is very diverse. We have lots of young people, of Asian descent, black heritage descent, that will have these blood types. So the fact that we can offer more appointments to people is a really great thing.”
NHSBT has highlighted the need for more Black donors in particular, as ethnically matched blood is vital for people with sickle cell. More than half of Black donors carry the Ro subtype, compared with just 2.4% of other ethnicities.
Whilst at the shop, a great deal of locals came down and spoke to us about why they signed up.
One donor told us:
“I had to have an emergency C-section when I had my daughter, and I didn’t have anybody to give blood to me at that time. We got blood from the blood bank and then we were able to replace it. So I think that, for me, giving blood is just like a way for me to give back and to say thank you to whoever gave me the blood at that time.”
Another donor said:
“My dad had a long battle with cancer and my mom, and my daughter would have had anaemia, so I know how important it is (to give blood) and how hard it is to get blood, when it is needed for someone that is sick… I always try to give when I can.”
A third added:
“It helps to save or improve the lives of three adults or six babies with one donation.”
Donating blood takes around 5-10 minutes, and the NHS needs three life-saving donations every minute. Thousands of lives could be saved every week with this new service.
The pop-up shop at the Mander Centre runs until 30th November, with staff on hand to answer questions and sign up new donors. Anyone interested in becoming a donor can drop in for information.