London university students help blood cancer charity, Anthony Nolan, celebrate 20 years of lifesaving

Blood cancer charity, Anthony Nolan, celebrates 20 years of its student volunteer network, "Marrow".

Imperial is amongst ten London universities with a Marrow society and, over the last 20 years, Imperial Marrow has joined other Marrow socieities in holding over 400 events to raise awareness of the work that Anthony Nolan does to support families and patients with blood cancer. Over 90 students recruited through these Marrow events have gone on to donate stem cells. As part of a year-long celebration to raise awareness of the need for more stem cell donors, Marrow groups will be holding a series of fundraising and donor recruitment events.

Charlotte Cunliffe, Marrow Programme Lead, said, "This year, our wonderful Marrow community is proud to be celebrating 20 years of saving lives. Our work in universities is vital, because it allows us to reach a young and diverse group of people. We are excited about the next 20 years and are looking forward to spreading the word about the lifesaving potential of students on campuses across London."

Patients from black, Asian or other minority ethnic backgrounds have just a 20% chance of finding a matching stem cell donor, compared to 69% of patients from north European backgrounds. As such, Marrow students aim to recruit potential donors from a range of backgrounds.

With more than 1500 people recruited by student volunteers having gone on to donate their stem cells, Marrow has gone from strength to strength and continues to work hard to save the lives of people with blood cancer.

To find out more about Marrow Groups, visit www.anthonynolan.org/marrow. If you are 16-30 and in good health, you can register online at www.anthonynolan.org/join.