Fleur Anderson Marks World Blood Day in Parliament

Attends awareness event organised by Putney constituent

Fleur Anderson (second from right) attending the APPG World Donor Day event

June 16, 2023

Putney MP Fleur Anderson attended a World Blood Donor Day event in Parliament this week to promote the need for more blood and organ donors from ethnic minority backgrounds

The Parliamentary awareness event was organised by one of her constituents along with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ethnicity Transplantation and Transfusion.

It was seeking to aid efforts to increase the number of registered blood donors in the UK, particularly from minority ethnic backgrounds, and was attended by several existing donors, as well as many Parliamentarians and their staff. 

Speaking after the event, Ms Anderson said, “I have learnt so much from Roehampton resident Yaser Martini who set up the Margot Foundation in memory of his daughter from a rare cancer. Until I met Yaser I didn’t know about the lives that could be saved if there were more blood, bone marrow and stem cell donors from people ethnic minority communities. It was fantastic to attend the event today to raise awareness of such an important cause. 18% of the UK population and 34.5% of our students are from ethnic minorities, it's therefore clear that our National Health Service needs to do more to meet their specific health needs. 

“In blood transfusion, there are major healthcare disparities for mixed and minority ethnic patients. We must remember that without donors, we can't make the necessary changes. So the message is simple – please do give blood and find out how you can donate bone marrow and stem cells too.”

The NHS’s Blood and Transplant division is aiming to recruit 140,000 new blood donors this year, with a target to ensure 12,000 of these are from black, Asian, mixed and minority ethnic backgrounds.

This is particularly important considering the rise in Sickle Cell disease diagnoses, which now number over 17,500 a year, which primarily affect these communities. 

The continued, “I am an officer for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ethnicity Transplantation and Transfusion. The issue of a lack of donors from minority ethnic backgrounds was made clear to me by local resident Yaser Martini, who founded Team Margot. I’d encourage all readers to look into the brilliant work that Team Margot does in promoting the need for donors of all backgrounds.”

Team Margot aims to help save and improve lives by educating, inspiring and motivating people, especially from ethnically diverse communities, to register as blood, organ, stem cell and bone marrow donors and to provide a range of support to families caring for child cancer patients.