The National Blood Service search for VIPs

hits London for Ghana’s Official 52nd Independence Day Celebration

- The red carpet gets rolled out at the Wembley Banqueting Suite on March 7 -

Celebrities are used to the VIP treatment, but how often do the public get a chance to become a `Very Important Person’ and make a difference in their local community?

The VIP Appeal is a new campaign by the National Blood Service (NBS) to encourage South Asian, Black African and Black Caribbean communities to give blood and help meet the need for rare blood types within ethnic minority communities.

The VIP Appeal is partnering a series of star-studded concerts and events up and down the country to inform and encourage people to register as blood donors, on March 7 the appeal will be at Wembley Banqueting Suite for Ghana’s Official 52nd Independence Day Celebration.

Zeeshan Asghar of the NBS said, “We are encouraging people from the widest communities to come forward to ensure that whenever someone is in need of blood or bone marrow, there is a matching type available. Some blood types are more common within ethnic communities and with bone marrow; you are much more likely to find a match from your own ethnic group. There are also health conditions like Sickle Cell Anaemia and Thalassaemia Major which are prevalent within ethnic communities that need constant supplies of blood. All of these factors show just how important it is for people from all communities to come forward and give blood so we can continue helping those in need.”

Less than three per cent of the total numbers of donors are from ethnic minority backgrounds. This means that on average, just over 200 people from BME communities donate each day across the whole of the UK.

Ghana’s Official 52nd Independence Day Celebration will be bringing together artists and performers from Ghana and the UK under one roof. With a comedy show hosted by man of the moment Eddie Kadi, the emerging talent that is Babatunde and old school favourite Richard Blackwood.

Performances on the night will come from UK rapper Sway, funky house phenomenon Doneao and KIG Family, performing their club anthem ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’. Not to be out done by their British counterparts, there will be live PA from Ghana’s finest Sidney and Castro.

So to become a Very Important Person, and do something amazing, head down to the Ghana Official 52nd Independence Day Celebration on 7 March and sign up to register as a blood donor. For more information visit www.blood.co.uk/vip or call 0845 7 711 711 quoting reference A05.

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Notes to Editors:

National Blood Service The National Blood Service is a part of NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), a Special Health Authority within the NHS responsible for managing the National Blood Service, Bio Products Laboratory, and UK Transplant. NHSBT is responsible for optimising the supply of blood, organs, plasma and tissues and raising the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of blood and transplant services. You may be able to give to blood if you are aged between 17-65, weigh over 7st 12lb (50kg) and are in good health. There is no upper age limit for blood donation if you have donated over the last two years. Blood groups vary by ethnicity; blood group B is more common amongst black and Asian groups. The NBS arranges over 100 donation sessions every day across England and north Wales. The whole process from arriving at the clinic to leaving takes on average less than an hour and you can give blood up to three times a year. Each donation can save more than one life. Within the ABO grouping system; blood group B is more common amongst black and Asian groups. There around 285,000 registered potential bone marrow donors on the British Bone Marrow Registry, only three per cent are from ethnic minority communities.