Chappo knows first hand how important it is for blood cancer patients to have access to blood donations. He relied on the generosity of others throughout his treatment in both the UK and Australia. Some of the facts around blood donation may surprise you though…

• 1 in 3 people will need blood, but only 1 in 30 donate. So a disproportionate few are shouldering the burden of this challenge.

• Donated blood can be made into 22 medical treatments.

• About a third of all donations help people with blood cancer.

Whether you’re in Australia, the UK or anywhere, please think about supporting your local blood bank as, particularly during Covid, supplies have been increasingly challenged. Some further information is shown below including a team we have setup to get around this initiative.

For those in Australia:

Join our Lifeblood Team

We’re proud to be part of Lifeblood Teams, the group donation program from Australian Red Cross Lifeblood.

Aside from saving lives through blood donation, Lifeblood Teams is about friendship, a little healthy competition and being part of something bigger than yourself. It’s a unique opportunity for all of us to band together and give something more powerful than money.

Register and join The Chaps Lifeblood Team here, or find out more from Cameron at cameron.n.haynes@gmail.com or 0416 967 177.

Useful links:

• Register and join The Chaps Lifeblood Team.

• Check that you can donate.

• Find your nearest blood donor centre.

• Book a donation.

• Track how many donations The Chaps have made.

For those in the UK:

Sadly the UK doesn’t have an equivalent of Lifeblood Teams where we can track how much we donate as a team, but set out below is how you can make a difference by donating through NHS – Give Blood.

• Check that you can donate.

• Read up on donating for the first time.

• Register with NHS – Give Blood.

• Once you’ve registered, search for a clinic and appointment slot (tip – filtering by “available appointments only” makes it a lot easier).

• Book an appointment!

• Once you’ve donated, why not set a reminder to make another appointment in 12 weeks’ time (for men) or 16 weeks’ time (for women), which is how often you can donate blood in the UK.

• You can keep track of your donations through your NHS – Give Blood account. Your account is personal to you, but if you feel like it, why not let Chappo know he has inspired you to donate?