Red Cross says thanks to its champions

South West residents who regularly roll up their sleeves to donate blood were recognised at an event in Bunbury last week.

The Red Cross thanked 28 donors who have donated 50 times or more at Casellas on Thursday as part of National Blood Donor Week.

Bunbury Donor Centre manager Sue McKenzie said the idea of the event was to celebrate the efforts of people who consistently donated.

“They are the people who help save people’s lives but most of them don’t do it for the acknowledgement,” she said.

“I think they know how much of a difference they make to the lives of people though.

“The event was a culmination of the week, it was the first time we’ve held the event away from the donor centre but we wanted to do something different.”

Ms McKenzie said the timing of National Blood Donor Week was good because the Red Cross needed donors during winter.

“It’s typically a time when we struggle to fill appointments because of the flu season,” she said. “We are hoping to encourage people who have never donated to come forward as well as people who haven’t donated in a while.”

Among the donors to be recognised was Ruabon resident David Bills, who has donated 275 times and was given a certificate and award. Mr Bills said he did not donate because he was looking for acknowledgement.

“It’s something you can do to help other people, it’s feels really good to know you are doing something good,” he said.