Loyal blood donors in Monmouthshire have responded to a request from the Welsh Blood Service to ‘donate differently’ by rolling up their sleeves to make a lifesaving donation at one of the Service’s new regional hubs.

Across Wales, of the 6,808 individuals that visited a Welsh Blood Service donation session in May 63% of donors attended a clinic that was not their usual donation venue.

In Monmouthshire, 1,259 donors came forward to give blood in May, with 248 attending a donation session for the very first time.

Following a series of Covid-19 related venue cancellations and social distancing restrictions, the Welsh Blood Service was unable to host donation sessions at the thirty community venues it would typically visit across Wales each week.

The Service introduced a new collections schedule at the beginning of April which saw collections taken from five regional donation hubs at different locations in Wales each week. Donors were asked to travel to donate at their nearest hub.

Alan Prosser, Director of the Welsh Blood Service, said: “When it became clear we couldn’t continue with business as usual, we knew we’d have to ask donors to donate differently. Our regional donation hubs have replaced our usual local collections programme and the response from donors has been remarkable.

“98.3% of the appointments we’ve made available since lockdown have been taken and many of these appointments have been taken by donors who have been prepared to go even further out of their way than they usually would just to make a potentially lifesaving donation.”

The Service has also observed a sharp rise in the number of new donors coming forward to donate.

Mr Prosser continued: “In May 2019, around 11% of those that attended our donation sessions were new donors. This May, around 19% of our attendance has been people who had never given before.

“We’ve also see a surge in the number of donors who haven’t given in years returning to our sessions to help us boost stocks. It’s been amazing and we’re hugely grateful.”

Blood stocks in Wales have remained healthy throughout the pandemic as the reduced collections activity has mirrored a reduction in the volume of blood used by hospitals. However, the Service is urging donors to continue to attend their local sessions as and when lockdown restrictions are lifted.

“Blood stocks are currently very healthy thanks to the commitment of new and existing donors but we need people to keep giving blood to ensure we can continue to meet hospital demand in the coming months. Travel to donate is considered essential travel and anyone who is fit, well and eligible to donate can book an appointment through the welshblood.org.uk website.”

The regional donation hubs sessions for July in Monmouthshire and surrounding areas are:

• Caldicot 1^st/2^nd July
• Llanyrafon 13^th/ 14^th July
• Monmouth 16^th/17^th July
• Pontypool 24^th July
• Newport – Christchurch Centre 23^rd/ 24^th July

(issued on behalf of the Welsh Blood Service)