Last week, I visited Lancaster University to meet with Lancaster Marrow, a student-led volunteering group educating their peers about and recruiting them to the Anthony Nolan stem cell register.

I was very pleased to support their ‘swabathon’ campaign which involved having several stalls across campus, each with student volunteers raising awareness about the Anthony Nolan stem cell register. Anthony Nolan was set up 50 years ago with the vision of helping every patient in need of a stem cell transplant find their lifesaving match. Now the charity helps to save 4 lives every single day.

It was great to meet with their President, Louie, who told me about the incredible work that the group does across the university. The Lancaster branch of Marrow was founded in 2011 and since then they have recruited almost 1,200 people, 6 of whom have gone on to donate and give someone a second chance at life.

The student society has excelled this year thanks to more volunteers becoming involved and dedicating their time to helping patients with blood cancers and blood disorders. Almost 1/4 of all potential donors ever recruited by Lancaster Marrow have been signed up in the past academic year alone, which shows just how much the group is growing.

Marrow is the student branch of Anthony Nolan and plays a very important role in recruiting potential donors to the register. In fact, 25% of all Anthony Nolan stem cell donors are recruited by a Marrow group. The student programme is celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year, which has seen events taking place right across the country in an effort to educate more young people on how easy it is to save a life.

Thank you so much to Lancaster Marrow for hosting me for the day and for doing your lifesaving work within our community! If you’re aged 16-30 and want to sign up to the stem cell register, or find out more about the work Anthony Nolan and Marrow click here.