Why give blood

Giving blood saves lives. The blood you give is a lifeline in an emergency and for people who need long-term treatments.

Many people would not be alive today if donors had not generously given their blood.

Why we need you to give blood

We need over 6,000 blood donations every day to treat patients in need across England. Which is why there’s always a need for people to give blood.

Each year we need approximately 200,000 new donors, as some donors can no longer give blood.

Most people between the ages of 17-65 are able to give blood.

Around half our current donors are over 45. That’s why we need more young people (over the age of 17) to start giving blood, so we can make sure we have enough blood in the future.

Find out who can give blood  and then book an appointment to give blood.

Remember, if you ever need to cancel a donation appointment we ask that you give us 3 days’ notice so that we can offer your appointment to another donor. You can easily cancel or reschedule your existing appointments by signing in to your online account , nhs app or using the NHSGiveBlood app.

Blood groups and types needed now

We need more donors from all blood groups and types. We particularly need more people from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities to give blood so that we have a supply of certain blood types.

We urgently need 40,000 black donors to provide much needed blood donations for black patients with sickle cell disease. They need life-saving blood from black donors, which provides the closest match to their own.

Register as a blood donor and book an appointment to give blood and help someone in need today.

About blood

Blood has many different parts or components including red blood cells, plasma and platelets.

It is also classified into different blood groups and blood types. Find out why we need blood and how it is used.

Giving blood in the UK

We collect blood in England. The rest of the UK has different services who do this:

Welsh Blood Service
Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service
Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service