Blood cancer charity, DKMS UK, is delighted to announce that it has been selected by Hospital Innovations as their lead charity partners.
Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma. Having a stem cell transplant is often the only or final treatment option for blood cancer patients, in fact, each year more than 2,000 people need to find a matching donor.
We support as many patients as we can in their search to find a blood stem cell donor, giving them hope for the future.
DKMS UK, part of a global group, registers blood stem cell donors in the UK, and supports them to donate their stem cells to blood cancer patients in need of a life-saving transplant. Currently, just three percent of the UK population are registered as potential donors and only 13% of these are from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
We run patient campaigns to raise awareness of the different types of blood cancers and blood disorders and the need for blood stem cell donors to encourage more people to join the register.
Using our social media channels, we share patients' stories as far and wide as we can.
Follow our campaigns on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin, all hoping to find a stem cell donor for everyone who needs one:
We work with local and national newspapers and broadcasters to share patient stories. This raises awareness and increases donor registration.
We work with friends and families of patients, local communities, and volunteers to hold events to inspire and encourage people to register as potential blood stem cell donors.
Drives can be set up at:
Discover more about donor drives.
We also provide support groups for patients, family, and friends and a supportive community through our Facebook group.
Donating is a straightforward process, as previous donor Poonam, a previous donor (right) can testify. For most people, it involves a few hours sitting in a comfortable chair, having blood withdrawn from your arm, with your expenses and travel paid by DKMS.
Our mission is to provide a matching donor for every patient with blood cancer or a blood disorder who needs a transplant. All it takes is one person to match each patient: that person might be you.