Students join forces for blood cancer charity

**Warwick students joined with students from Coventry University to host a donor recruitment drive for leading blood cancer charity, Anthony Nolan.**

Students from Warwick and Coventry were out in force on December 4 to spread the message that the process of registering has never been easier.

Armed with ‘saliva kits’, students encouraged others to ‘spit and save a life’. A saliva test can now be used to determine someone’s tissue type.

It is hoped that since potential donors will no longer have to give a blood sample, which for many is a dreaded procedure, that the number of donors will rise.

Anthony Nolan is a pioneering charity which helps save the lives of people with blood cancer who are in need of a blood stem cell or bone marrow transplant.

The donor recruitment day was led by Coventry University lecturer Jenni Fernando. Jenni, who recently became a donor to a blood cancer patient, said: “I feel very privileged to have been able to help someone in this way.

“I don’t know my recipient, but hope that this donation is going to give them and their family the chance of a very Happy Christmas this year.

“It’s just a simple thing to do, just like giving blood, and the Anthony Nolan support team have been fantastic all the way through. I would urge anyone, aged 16 to 30, to join the Register. There is currently an urgent need for young male donors and those from ethnic minority groups and of mixed race to join the Register.”

There are approximately 30,000 people worldwide who are waiting for a transplant and the charity is keen to boost the number of registered donors.