A group of students from Birmingham City University’s School of Media, are hoping to save lives with the launch of a health campaign to increase awareness about giving blood.
The campaign – named Gifted Blood – has been organised by students Rabia Raza, Ivy Ching, and Janice Wong, third year students on the BA (hons) Media and Communications degree, as part of their final year public relations project. They hope to increase awareness of blood donation, with a focus on ethnic minority groups.
As part of the Gifted Blood Campaign, the students will be holding a Blood Donation Drive on Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th May at Birmingham New Street’s Donor Centre and are encouraging people throughout Birmingham to come along and donate.
22-year-old Rabia from Birmingham said: “We wanted to produce a valuable campaign to focus awareness on a well-deserved cause. Blood donation is a procedure which saves lives, yet we found it to be overlooked amongst ethnic minority and younger communities.
“Coming from a diverse range of backgrounds ourselves including, Chinese, Malaysian, Iranian and Pakistani, we hope to quash the myths and issues surrounding blood donation, preventing ethnic minorities from donating.”
The campaign would not have been possible without the assistance of NHS Blood and Transplant. Theo Clarke, spokesperson for NHSBT, said: “It’s fantastic to see the youth of Birmingham pulling together to encourage more members of the community to donate blood. Birmingham is a multicultural city and this is a great initiative to make sure our blood donor base reflects this – it is blood that is donated BY the community FOR the community and NHSBT are delighted to give people the chance to be a lifesaver!”
