Did you know…
- Every donation is screened for blood type and various diseases such as Hepatitis and HIV. This essentially means that donors can get a free blood health check up to 3 times a year.
- One unit can help up to 3 different people as is split into plasma, platelets and red blood cells.
- Blood cells can be stored for up to 42 days, platelets for just 5 days, and plasma can be stored frozen for a year.
- It only takes around 24 hours for your body to replenish the donated blood.
- 23% of blood donations go to helping those with anaemia
- The amount of blood in your body is approx. 12% of your body weight. How many pints are in you? Use the chart below to find out!
- New mothers can donate cord blood, which is rich in stem cells. However, in the UK alone 65,000 litres of cord blood were discarded following births.
- 80% of transplant requests would be met if the UK saved just 50,000 cord blood units. For more info, please click here.
The Blood Bag Project 