A clinic was set up in the University of Lincoln’s Courts Accommodation complex last night with the aim of signing up students to the bone marrow register, reports Emma Tinson.
The clinic was run by Lincoln Marrow, a local, student-based branch of the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Charity. The organisation encourages people to register as bone marrow donors and aims to raise awareness for both bone marrow and stem cell transplants, which can help cure leukaemia, lymphoma and several other malignant blood disorders.
Lincoln Marrow volunteers went door to door explaining the charity to students and encouraging them to sign up to the register.
Laura Turner, a Lincoln Marrow volunteer, explained the process of becoming a donor: “If you’re aged between 18 and 30, you can sign up for Anthony Nolan by spitting into a tube, and then you are on the register until you’re 60.
“Even if we don’t sign up lots of people, it doesn’t matter, because one person on the register could mean one life saved, so everyone’s important,” Laura added.
Two courts students that signed up to the register were first years, Thomas Hughs and Alistair Mendzil. “It seemed really scary at first,” Thomas admitted. “I asked a lot of questions but after a long talk it didn’t seem too bad.”
Yet Alistair was a lot more relaxed, saying: “I was fine with it because I’ve donated blood before.”
After the clinic session had finished, Claire Croucher, another volunteer, said: “We’ve made people more aware of the cause and signed a few students up. Some had heard about the charity but didn’t know what it was about… They just knew us as the spit people!”
This year, Lincoln Marrow have signed up over two hundred students. They will hold another clinic in the Minerva Building at the University on October 13th.