Manchester donor centre needs your blood

PEOPLE with two valuable blood groups, B negative and O negative blood type, are urged to donate blood in an urgent Christmas NHS appeal.

After bad weather has hit the centre’s donations, the NHS Blood and Transplant desperately needs donors to help fill their stockings this winter’s NHS appeal.

Donors with these groups will be able to walk in and donate at Norfolk House Donor Centre on Brown Street in City Centre.

The recent low temperatures and snow have put many people off donating and, has sadly, led to some cancelled sessions, meaning stocks of these valuable groups are lower than seriously ill hospital patients will need this Christmas.

O negative is the universal donor blood which can be safely given to almost anyone, which makes it extremely valuable for trauma patients where there is little time to test for blood groups, with only 9% of donors sharing the blood type.

Patients with serious blood disorders such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia need B negative blood, which make the blood type particularly important. Only 2% of donors are B negative, a blood group more common in black and Asian people.

Help @givebloodnhs keep blood stocks up over Christmas and New Year. Make your appointment today: https://t.co/HBnDjg5Ia8 pic.twitter.com/skIUBIsaRg

— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) December 15, 2017

With a wide variety of opening hours over the next few days, which can be seen at blood.co.uk, Norfolk House Donor Centre is on Brown Street, near the Arndale Centre, M2 1DA.

@GiveBloodNHS donation No 39 on #ChristmasJumperDay pic.twitter.com/hJMatrrYx2

— Lisa Trott (@LisaTrott77) December 15, 2017

See map bellow for information about where you can donate blood and how to get there.

Jon Latham, NHS Blood and Transplant said: “The recent poor weather has resulted in us having less O negative and B negative blood than is required for patients going into Christmas.

“If you are a donor with one of these important blood groups, please just walk into Manchester Donor Centre as soon as you can, and we will take your blood”

“Seriously ill patients in Manchester will need blood this Christmas and they will rely on the generosity of people making time to donate now.

“If you know that you have one of these blood groups and you can donate please take action now and walk in and donate – you will save lives”, Jon Latham continues.