Celebrities join campaign for more blood donors

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Donors giving blood Credit: ITV Border

Hollyoaks stars and designer Wayne Hemingway MBE are supporting NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in their appeal to recruit vital new blood donors.

NHSBT wants to recruit 100,000 new donors in the next 100 days to protect future blood stocks. Every year 225,000 new donors are needed to replace existing donors who drop out of the system. This year, the need is more urgent because there has been a dramatic decline in the number of younger donors signing up.

Hollyoaks stars including Jorgie Porter have pledged their support for the appeal by modelling limited edition 'Blood Sister' and 'Blood Brother' t-shirts created by Red or Dead founder Wayne Hemingway.

A limited number of these exclusive t-shirts will be up for grabs via the NHS Blood and Transplant Twitter page

Red or Dead Founder Wayne Hemingway has made limited edition t shirts to highlight the campaign Credit: PA

The service says young people are vital, 40% of new donors are aged between 17 and 24, but this number has been declining. This year there was a 50% drop in the number of donors aged between 17 and 18.

A machine processes donated blood Credit: ITV Border

NHSBT spokesperson, Jon Latham, said:

Actress Jorgie Porter said:

Hospitals across England need 7,000 units of blood every day and each unit saves or improves the lives of up to three people. Over a lifetime, some blood donors help more than 500 people through their donations.

To find out if you are eligible to become a blood donor and make a date to donate, visit www.blood.co.uk or call on 0300 123 23 23.