South Yorkshire MP urges young people to join him in signing up to save a life with Anthony Nolan

Michael Dugher, MP for Barnsley East, has urged young people in Barnsley East to join the Anthony Nolan stem cell and blood donor register, which Mr Dugher is himself registered to, so they can be connected with blood cancer victims in need of life saving transplants.
Michael Dugher MPMichael Dugher MP
Michael Dugher MP

Registering as a donor with Anthony Nolan is a painless, easy process which you can start online. When you register with the charity you’ll be sent a spit kit in the post, which contains a small tube you need to spit in. All you have to do is post the spit kit back to Anthony Nolan with your saliva sample. They will then test your sample and log the results in Anthony Nolan’s donor database.

Anthony Nolan keeps a register of eligible donors, aged 16 – 30, who are notified when a match is in need of a transplant. The charity is running an outreach programme of interactive presentations for young people across the country, and Mr Dugher has written to sixth forms and colleges in his Barnsley East constituency asking them to sign up.

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The presentations, given by Anthony Nolan’s Register and Be a Lifesaver team, have resulted in more than 13,000 students adding their names to the stem cell donor register, and over 12,000 students joining the blood donor register. A remarkable 38 young people have gone on to donate to a patient in need of a transplant.

In the UK, someone is told they have a blood cancer every 20 minutes. That means 25,000 people a year get diagnosed with blood cancer.

With so many individuals and their families affected, Mr Dugher is urging young people to get involved and sign up to the register so they might have the chance to save a life.

Mr Dugher said: “Anthony Nolan does absolutely fantastic work raising awareness of people affected by blood cancer and other blood disorders and connecting them to potential donors. In the UK, someone is told they have blood cancer every 20 minutes. That means 25,000 people a year get diagnosed with blood cancer. This is why Anthony Nolan’s work is so vital.

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“The charity’s outreach programme is a great way for young people, aged 16–30, in Barnsley to find out about joining Anthony Nolan’s register and to see if they can help a stranger in need of a life-saving transplant.

“I’ve written to local students urging them to sign up to Anthony Nolan’s fantastic interactive outreach programme, which gives young people a great opportunity to find out more about this important work.”

To find out how to register visit the Anthony Nolan website Click here