So, Monday 14th June is World Blood Donor Day, the start of National Blood Donor Week and also the day we will be implementing the recommendations of the FAIR committee (click here for further information and here is a link to the FAIR report) which were announced by Welsh Government in December 2020 (news story link here) and more recently we announced the date these changes will be introduced – June 14th – Link to story here.
Further details about these changes can be found here but in essence The Welsh Blood Service (along with the other UK Blood Services) will be starting to assess donor eligibility on a person-by-person basis for declared lifestyle choices; instead of applying across-the-board restrictions which have previously excluded potential donors.
Using a donor’s individual experiences to determine whether that person is eligible to donate makes the process fairer for all donors and means more people will be able to give blood than ever before.
The recommendations were designed by epidemiology, sexual health and infectious disease experts to make sure we keep the blood supply safe while making blood donation fairer and more accessible to all which will include members of the LGBT+ community.
These new blood donation will be some of the most progressive of their kind in the world and we are marking the occasion with some of our new donors from the LGBT+ community who will be donating for the first time under these changes on the morning of Monday 14.
Included in the group of donors is a same sex married couple, Carl and Martin (image attached) and Shane Andrews a new donor who was awarded an MBE in the 2020 New Year’s Honours for the work he has done to increase LGBT+ awareness among his colleagues and empowering them to celebrate diversity in the workplace.
These donations will take place in the early part of Monday 14th June (around 8.30am/9am) and will be the first donations in Wales to take place under the changes and will likely also be the first in the UK.
Any support you are able to give us in sharing this fantastic story to help us encourage new and existing donors to support us would be greatly appreciated.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information.
