United Reformed Church staff give blood

The FleshandBlood campaign is asking churches to raise the profile of giving blood within their congregations.

Staff at the headquarters of the United Reformed Church in London donated their blood this week.

They were inspired to give blood as part of National Blood Week and the FleshandBlood campaign, which is supported by the URC.

The campaign, organised by NHS Blood and Transplant, is encouraging churches to see blood and organ donation as part of their giving.

The group from United Reformed Church House went to the West End Donor Centre near Oxford Circus.  Staff members making the visit included lapsed donors and first-time donors who admitted to being a little apprehensive about the process.

Several other staff members who were not able to make it on the day signed up to give at another date.

The two-year FleshandBlood campaign launched in February and is the first time the NHS has worked alongside the Church on a national initiative of this kind.

Gill Nichol, who organised the visit to West End Donor Centre said: "I'm delighted by the number of colleagues who've responded positively to my request that they consider giving blood.

"Seven thousand units of blood are needed every day, yet 96% of us rely on 4% to supply it. To meet this demand approximately 200,000 extra blood donors are needed every year and I hope that some URC staff who have signed up for the first time will become regular donors.

"Giving blood is both a simple and deeply profound for most people and I urge everyone to check out the flesh and blood website and consider whether they can do something amazing too."

For more information and/or to sign up as a donor, please visit http://fleshandblood.org/