Luton Town Hall turns pink to raise awareness about organ donation

a picture of luton town hall anglia
Luton Town Hall will be lit up pink to mark Organ Donation Week Credit: ITV News Anglia

Local landmarks are turning pink to mark Organ Donation Week in the hope it will encourage more people to confirm they want to donate.

This week marks 30 years since the NHS organ donation register was set up and to mark the occasion Luton Town Hall, will be among those illuminated.

More than 7600 people are in need of an organ transplant, including more than 250 children.

An "opt-out" law was introduced in England, meaning all adults are considered to have agreed to be organ donors, unless they have recorded a decision not to donate or are in an excluded group- but families still have the ultimate say.

According to the NHS, the proportion of people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities registering to donate is on the rise, but there’s still a need for families to support donation as the waiting list climbs.

Donors of black heritage are more likely to have the blood type needed to treat people with sickle cell, the genetic blood disorder. Credit: PA

It comes as the University of Bedfordshire announced it had received funding to run a community organ donation campaign, led by students, transplant recipients and donors from different ethnic and faith communities.

The University is joining forces with the council and the Mandip Mudhar Memorial Foundation- an organ donor family charity - to start a conversation about donation in minority ethnic communities.

Prof Gurch Randhawa from the University of Bedfordshire, said: “It’s a privilege to be implementing our research, connecting organ donor families, communities, religions and tackling the global problem of not enough organ donors from all communities.

"We need to increase organ donation conversations via university student community ambassadors and using art to promote dialogue, specifically to tackle the lower rates of organ donation among minority ethnic communities.”

Mayor of Luton, Cllr Tahmina Saleem, also added: “Sadly, many opportunities are lost every year in Luton and around the country because families don’t know if their loved one wanted to be a donor or not."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know