Round 9 of the WA Smarter than Smoking Premiership will be the NRL WA BLOOD RIVALS Round in support of Australian Red Cross in conjunction with National Blood Donor week 11-17 June
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service is delighted to be partnering with the NRL WA Community Connect Program this season to launch the Blood Donation Challenge amongst the clubs. We’ve seen the Joondalup Giants take the lead nice and early and have even been attracting a bit of media attention from the Blood Service! But can they hold on to that lead?!
The reason for us using Round 9 to launch the NRL WA BLOOD RIVALS CHALLENGE is because June 11 – 17 is National Blood Donor Week! This is an opportunity for us to celebrate our milestone donors and thank our life saving donors who continue to roll up their sleeves! The theme for National Blood Donor Week this year is “Be a Bloody Legend” – which we hope your teams will find entertaining! There is also some collateral and material available here: https://www.donateblood.com.au/red25/be-bloody-legend
Key facts and figures about blood donation:
- 1 in 3 Australians will need blood in their lifetime, yet only 1 in 30 donates.
- 1 donation has the power to save 3 lives
- Australia needs over 25,000 blood donations every week
- 34% of all blood donations go towards helping cancer patients
- Blood diseases, people undergoing surgery, new mums and premature babies, people with burns and medical problems like heart disease are all other examples of where donated blood is used. These people aren’t just statistics – they’re your family, your friends, your team mates.
- Blood products have a relatively short shelf life – some last for only 5 days, creating a constant demand
- When you donate blood, 470mL is taken, which is about 10% of your bodies overall blood supply. This is replenished within 6 hours
- The process takes approximately an hour for a whole blood donation. The bulk of that time is spent in the refreshments lounge, with only 5 – 10 minutes in the donation chair.
- Each club will receive a donation kit, including posters, information and registration forms to display leading up to and during the challenge period.
- Hashtag to use throughout the challenge – #NRLWAsave3lives. The blood service already utilises #save3lives, so it would be beneficial to tie in with this also
- Donations can be facilitated individually or in small groups of 3-6 depending on centre availability. Appointments can be booked by phoning 13 14 95 for individuals or 1300 886 524 for groups