Rebecca Pritchard
Rebecca's Anthony Nolan Couriers
Fundraising for Anthony Nolan
Story
The coronavirus pandemic is causing anxiety and frustrations for us all. But for blood cancer patients who can’t wait any longer for lifesaving stem cell donations to be delivered, we have the power to save lives in this crisis.
At Anthony Nolan, were taking immediate action to keep donated stem cells moving; from increased health checks on our donors, to battling with travel restrictions and border closures to ensure cells get to patients who desperately need them to survive.
We now need to raise an extra £10,000 every month that the coronavirus pandemic goes on to fund this work. Which is why we’re asking for your support.
Anthony Nolan matches individuals willing to donate their stem cells to patients with blood cancer or blood disorders who desperately need lifesaving transplants. The charity enlists the help of over 50 amazing volunteers who travel the UK and all over the world to collect stem cells from donors and deliver them to patients waiting for a lifesaving transplant.
Earlier this month, following guidance from the UK Government amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the charity made the decision to work with alternative couriers to pick up and deliver stem cells from outside the UK, to ensure patients’ needs are met.
Many Anthony Nolan couriers are retired, and potentially more vulnerable to coronavirus, so sadly a large number of these amazing volunteers have had to step back at this time. But staff from across the Anthony Nolan have stepped up and been trained, virtually, to pick up donated stem cells and transport them to patients, to ensure lifesaving transplants can still take place.
Once a person donates their stem cells, couriers have just 72 hours to deliver them to the patient for the clinician to administer the lifesaving transplant. In times of global travel restrictions, the couriers must ensure that they arrive on time.
Anthony Nolan has created an emergency “Handover Hub” at Heathrow Airport, which is open 24 hours a day. This means international couriers, who can’t go into hospitals due to quarantine rules, can handover stem cells to one of our staff couriers for the final lifesaving leg. Every £100 we raise could help pay to keep our Emergency Handover Hub at Heathrow Airport open 24 hours a day.
Our teams are working around the clock to make this happen. Please sponsor me whatever you can today to keep this vital work going.
To find out more about the appeal, visit anthonynolan.org/coronavirusemergencyappeal
