A new campaign is being launched to encourage Lanarkshire people to donate blood after numbers fell to an all-time low during the Covid pandemic.
The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) is marking World Blood Donor Day with its release.
Filmed in Glasgow, it features blood donors across Scotland who have donated and are encouraging Scottish people to donate.
Debbie McNaughton, SNBTS Associate Director, Donor Services & Transport told Lanarkshire Live: “We are pleased to launch our new advertising campaign and I would like to extend my thanks to all the donors who have featured in it.
"The campaign is required to help us recruit new blood donors. We currently have 96,295 blood donors and we need to build this to 105,000 active donors.
"Allowing for people who stop giving blood for various reasons, this means we are asking 16,000 new or returning donors to come forward in the next 12 months.
“South Lanarkshire makes up approximately 8 per cent of 96,295 donors we currently have in Scotland. Therefore, we need over 1200 new or returning donors to come forward in South Lanarkshire alone.
“Simultaneously, we are currently seeing a 7 per cent increase in the demand for blood from hospitals. This is because NHS Scotland is busy post-pandemic with high levels of activity.
"This is welcome news so we are asking people in Scotland to register as blood donors now, to allow this good work to continue.
“The global theme for WBDD this year is ‘Giving blood is an act of solidarity. We need people to come forward and register as blood donors.”
In the coming months, several blood donation sessions will be taking place in:
- Rutherglen Town Hall - Monday, July 4 and Tuesday, July 5
- Viewpark- Monday, June 20
- Stonehouse - Monday, July 11
- Cambuslang- Monday, August 1
- Blantyre - Tuesday, August 2
- Larkhall -Monday, August 8
To donate blood appointments can be booked online.
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