Posted: 18/01/13
R&Be saves lives at college
More than 500 young people at West Nottinghamshire College learnt about becoming life savers through a series of health information events this week (14-18 January).
The sessions, led by Keith Sudbury – a volunteer for Anthony Nolan, took place across the college campuses to raise students’ awareness about stem cell, blood and organ donation.
Keith is part of the Register & Be a Lifesaver project, which is the legacy of his late son, Adrian Sudbury who died from Leukaemia in 2008. Before his death, Adrian campaigned to have 16-18-year-olds educated about the bone marrow register so that more young people could be informed about the process of becoming a donor and how easy it is to save a life.
Adrian presented a petition to the Prime Minister and government ministers and in 2008 the R&Be team began to roll out the initiative to schools and colleges across the country.
So far, more than 70,000 young people have taken part, many of whom have joined the stem cell and organ registers and have become blood donors. Adrian also set up ‘Baldy’s Blog’ where he shared his experiences of the disease and his treatment up until his death.
Head of student support Linda Gration said: “The presentations that Keith and his team gave to our students were inspirational and quite a few have already signed up.”
R&Be Regional Co-ordinator Keith Sudbury said: “The response at West Nottinghamshire College has been excellent. It’s a very simple equation, the more people join the register, the more matches can be found, the more lives can be saved.”
