Blood cancer charity thanks Plymouth marrow student volunteers for lifesaving year
Blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan says thank you to students from Plymouth Marrow who recruited a remarkable 1,024 students to the stem cell register and raised £8,974.28 this academic year.
Plymouth University is one of over 55 universities with a ‘Marrow’ society, the name given to blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan’s network of student volunteer groups.
This academic year marks 20 years since the first Marrow society was created with the aim of recruiting students to the Anthony Nolan stem cell register. For many people with blood cancers or blood disorders, receiving stem cells from a stranger is their best chance at life, so the work done by Plymouth Marrow is invaluable.
Students of Plymouth Marrow
Since 1998, Marrow groups have recruited over 145,000 potential donors and over 1200 of these people have gone on to donate. Over a quarter of stem cell donations that have occurred in the last two years were from donors recruited by Marrow.
Jordan Hargreaves, President of Plymouth Marrow, said: ‘I’m so proud of this year’s committee and all our wonderful volunteers. They’re incredibly hard-working and truly dedicated to Anthony Nolan and the amazing work the charity does.
‘The two biggest highlights for me were the Valentine’s Auction and “Take Me Out”, which raised over £4500, three times the amount raised last year, and our campaign for Oscar Saxelby Lee, where we recruited 279 potential lifesavers to the stem cell register.
‘As a result of these two, hugely successful drives, we raised just under £10,000 for Anthony Nolan and recruited over 1000 lifesavers. None of this would have been possible without all of Plymouth Marrow’s volunteers and their hard work, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group to work with.’
Aisling Cohn, Youth Programmes Manager at Anthony Nolan, said: ‘Plymouth Marrow really are the unsung heroes helping Anthony Nolan give hope to patients with blood cancer, by signing up an incredible number of potential donors to the stem cell register. Any one of these people could save the life of someone with blood cancer.
‘When little Oscar’s aunt approached Plymouth Marrow back in February for help in raising awareness of his appeal, they immediately sprang into action, recruiting an awe-inspiring 279 students to the stem cell register.
‘It costs £40 to add each new person to the Anthony Nolan register so the money raised by Plymouth Marrow will directly help save lives. It really has been an amazing, lifesaving year for Marrow!’
Plymouth Marrow has raised a mammoth £23,424.81 since 2011.
To find out more about Marrow, or to join your local group, visit www.anthonynolan.org/marrow
