Anthony Nolan are recruiting Edi students to be stem cell donors tomorrow

Anthony Nolan will be recruiting stem cell donors this week at the Reid Concert Hall.

Every twenty minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer. By taking ten minutes out of your Wednesday, you have the potential to save a life.

Students are increasingly stepping up in the fight against blood cancer. Across the UK, over 100,000 students have signed up so far to Anthony Nolan’s stem cell register, making our age group one of the biggest of those registered in the UK. People who join the register on campus have a 1 in 100 chance of going on to donate their stem cells, compared to the average of a 1 in 790 chance.

The charity uses its register to match incredible people willing to donate their stem cells, like this third year life saving student at Sheffield to people with blood cancer and blood disorders in desperate need of a transplant.

Signing up to the register is quick and simple – taking just ten minutes

This comes as more people are beginning to realise that bone marrow donation really isn’t as scary as you think. There’s sometimes a perception that donating stem cells is a big procedure, but in reality, the process is quite different. Nine out of 10 people donate stem cells through their blood, not their bone marrow.

One of these was Karys Taylor, a first year linguistics student who within her first month at Edinburgh Uni donated her stem cells. She told The Tab: “I don't have a single negative thing to say about the donation, the whole process was so easy. It's been the most rewarding thing I've ever been given the opportunity to do.”

Because we're young, we’re most likely to be chosen to donate and have better outcomes for the patient, as we’re less likely to have long-term health problems which might delay or prevent donation.

Edinburgh is home to many Anthony Nolan volunteers, like Libby Chatterton Dickson, a fourth year Medic. She says: “Anthony Nolan is an amazing charity that saves the lives of people with blood cancer. Every single person who signs up to the register could one day save someone’s life.

"We have signed up over 500 students to the register in Edinburgh and we hope to sign up as many people as possible next week!”

If you’re aged 16-30 you can join the Anthony Nolan register on campus at the Reid Concert Hall from 11am – 5pm on Wednesday 29th November.

Join the Facebook event here.