NHS Organ Donor Register Campaign

Registered charity Transplant Sport UK will be holding a one-off children's sports hall and swimming gala at Medina Leisure Centre this Bank Holiday weekend (1-4 May), in a bid to raise awareness of the need for organ donation in the UK and worldwide.

Through organising sports and social events for transplant recipients Transplant Sport UK shows the benefits of organ donation and prove that you can lead a normal and active life again after transplantation.

Organ donation. The gift of life.

Each year, around 3,000 people in the UK benefit from an organ transplant. However, at the same time, more than 9,000 people need an organ transplant to save or dramatically improve their lives – and around 1,000 people die every year before a suitable donated organ becomes available.

The NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR) is literally a lifesaver. A confidential, computerised database, it carries the names of more than 16 million people who have said they want to leave a legacy of life by donating their organs to help others after their death.

You can find out more about organ donation by calling the NHS Organ Donor Line on 0845 60 60 400 or by visiting www.organdonation.nhs.uk

You can help others after your death

By signing up to the NHS Organ Donor Register. You can pick up a form at your local GP surgery, call the NHS Organ Donor Line on 0845 60 60 400 or by visiting www.organdonation.nhs.uk

by telling your family what you’ve done and making sure they understand your wishes.

Did you know?

You are more likely to need a transplant than to become a donor
Traditionally organ donors have come from two groups: road accident and brain haemorrhage patients. Improved road safety and medical interventions mean that fewer in both groups are dying
The NHS Organ Donor Register was launched on 6 October 1994 following a successful campaign by the Cox family from the West Midlands. Twenty-four year old Peter Cox had already discussed his wish to donate his organs with his family before his death from a brain tumour. But although patients waiting for a transplant were listed on a central NHS computer, the Coxes found there was no equivalent register for people willing to donate
The ODR is available to authorised NHS staff 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
NHS Blood and Transplant is responsible for maintaining the NHS ODR and provides a 24-hour service for the matching and allocation of donated organs
More than 6,000,000 people – the largest single group – joined the ODR through ticking the box on their DVLA driving licence application form
The second most popular route to registration is the tick box on the form that patients fill in when they register with a new GP – more than three million people have joined in this way.

NHSBT is a Special Health Authority in the NHS with responsibility for optimising the supply of blood, organs, plasma and tissues and raising the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of blood and transplant services.

Quick Links

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