Will you become a friend of the charity and make a regular donation to support our work?
Since the charity began in 2015, we’ve made things happen:
• We have now recruited nearly 10,000 potential stem cell donors; more than 130 of these have been identified as a match for a blood cancer patient in need with 16 going onto donate their stem cells to a blood cancer patient, giving them a second chance at life. • An incredible 37% of the potential donors we have recruited are from minority ethnic communities, compared to just 15% of those on the whole donor register. • 38% of our potential donors that have completed the lifesaving donation process for a patient in need are from minority ethnic communities compared to just 4% across the donor registry as a whole.
We may be a small charity, but we have big ambition, low overheads and people who care – like you.
Just £3 a month could support the recruitment and training of a volunteer to raise awareness of the issues surrounding stem cell and bone marrow donation in their local community.
By making a donation of £5 a month, the charity would be able continue its programme of donor registration across the UK.
A £10 monthly donation would give us the opportunity to respond to urgent patient appeals where no matching donor exists, by running emergency donor drives on their behalf.
We will not stop until all blood cancer patients – regardless of their ethnicity – have an equal chance of a quality stem cell match and in turn, a second chance at life.
With Covid-19 having a significant effect on our income, we need the support of our community more than ever. Please join us by committing to a regular gift today.
Today, five people will begin their search for a stem cell donor, could you buy them a second chance at life this Christmas?
In 2020, we aim to launch a pilot project in the West Midlands to recruit 11,000 new donors – especially those from minority groups – to the stem cell and bone marrow register.
We need your help to make this happen.
The Trustees at the Roger Counter Foundation have generously agreed to match the first £15,000 of donations to the project so any gift you make is doubled.
Please, help Christmas wishes come true.
A number of our supporters have kindly agreed to share their own stories in the hope you feel able to support this year’s appeal:
We worked with Kelly and her family to find Khaleel (left) a donor
The Patient’s Story Kelly explains how important our community work is to families that are seeking a stem cell donor:
“We became involved with Race Against Blood Cancer through a member of the team when my son, Khaleel, relapsed with leukaemia. He needed an urgent stem cell transplant and the charity ran donor drives all over to try to get more people to sign up to the register and find him a match.
The charity makes a huge difference in the community, pretty much everyone locally now knows how important becoming a donor is. People always make a point of telling me how they’ve signed up at one of the donor drives as soon as they realise Khaleel’s my son. It makes me proud to know that he helped the charity to spread the word of the importance of being on the stem cell register.
Sadly Khaleel passed away after his transplant but we continue to work with Race Against Blood Cancer; every year the charity holds a fun day ‘Remembering Khaleel’ it’s always a great turn out and they sign up more new donors to help other patients seeking a match’.
James donated his stem cells to give a patient in Australia a second chance at life
The Donor’s Story
James explains why he’s supporting our appeal for funding this Christmas:
‘Friends of mine started the charity when one of our group was diagnosed with blood cancer, so I jumped at the chance to join the register. A couple of years passed and I was told I was a match for a patient in Australia; I went on to donate my stem cells shortly after.
To me, the work that the charity does is so important, in an ideal world there would be a presence in every community. Having a Community Engagement Manager in the West Midlands will mean an increase in the number of registered donors, resulting in more people across the world being offered the chance of life-saving treatment.”
Bex (right) became involved with the charity after donating stem cells for her sister Natalie (shown)
The Volunteer’s Story
Our volunteer – and stem cell donor – Bex, is urging you to make a donation to support our work:
“My sister was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in 2016. Following her first bone marrow transplant, we became involved with Race Against Blood Cancer and have supported the team since.
Being visible on a local level not only increases support but helps to raise awareness of the charity’s message and ethos. It is essential that we get more people on the donor register – things could have been so different for my sister. Everyone diagnosed with a blood disorder should have an equal chance of survival.”
Our new donors are registered through DKMS
The Partner’s Story Our registry partner DKMS explains the impact of having a local presence, and with this much achieved at ad-hoc events, imagine what we could achieve with a full-time Community Engagement Manager:
“From the very beginning, the West Midlands Race Against Blood Cancer representatives have been fundamental in driving the recruitment of donors to the stem cell register, with the volunteer team holding more than 70 events.
The fact that there is a local presence offering awareness, education and support, provides those affected and their families with the knowledge that their community are able to help and want to support them at such a time. This is an enormous boost and cannot be underestimated. The reassurance that such an important message and service is being facilitated by another organisation dedicated to trying to offer patients a second chance at life is a fact that we at DKMS value greatly.”
Many thanks to Race Against Blood Cancer’s friend, Matt Murray, who has been responsible for a £500 donation to us this week.
Matt has been working with creative agency ‘Material’ on the current SSE Women’s FA Cup campaign, and amazingly, he decided to donate his fee to Race Against Blood Cancer.
Your ongoing support of our work is incredible Matt, thank you.
Matt Murray (right) with his friend and fellow ex-Wolves player, Carl Ikeme (centre) and the Race Against Blood Cancer team
