We are shining a light on the importance of organ donation by turning buildings across the region pink this September.
Councils, businesses, hospitals and community groups across the country are joining together for Organ Donation Week by turning their buildings pink, in memory of more than 400 people who died last year waiting for a transplant, and to encourage people to confirm their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Someone will die today waiting for an organ transplant. Most people would accept an organ if they needed one. Right now, there are more than 8,000 people waiting for a transplant, and the list is the highest it has ever been.
Your choice to be an organ donor has never been more important, and it takes just two minutes to save up to nine lives.
Dr Harish Lad, Clinical Lead for Organ Donation across NHS Humber Health Partnership (NHSHHP), said: “A number of buildings across the region will be lit up pink to mark organ donation week and I am sure they will look fabulous but more importantly will get people asking questions.
“Sadly, many opportunities to save lives are lost every year in our region and around the country not enough people are registered as organ donors.”
Twenty families consented to organ donation between April last year and August this year at Hull Royal Infirmary, Scunthorpe General Hospital and Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby. However, we need to get the conversation started among families and friends if they are to register their wishes on the National Organ Donor Register.
Locally across North and North East Lincolnshire, this is what is going on:
- Lighting up Grimsby Minster in pink
• Lighting up Grimsby hospital clock tower, as well as some of our courtyards, and the Scunthorpe hospital main entrance
• There will be an information stand in the restaurant at Scunthorpe hospital on Wednesday 24 September
• There will be an information stand on Thursday 25 September from 11am at Grimsby hospital restaurant
• Scunthorpe United Football Club will be sharing information on organ donation on their digital scoreboard at half time.
There are also several events being held across Hull, including:
- Unveiling a new flower bed in front of Hull Royal Infirmary and will fly the Organ Donation flag, normally raised when a family have agreed to donate their loved one’s organs
• Help desk staff inside the hospital will wear their pink Organ Donation t-shirts and a stall will be set up in the main foyer of the new entrance to Hull Royal on Wednesday and Friday of next week
• And, in the city, buildings in Queen Victoria Square in Hull City Centre will be lit up in pink to mark the occasion.
Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant said: “It’s brilliant NHSHHP to show its support for Organ Donation Week at a time when more people than ever need a transplant to transform their lives. The modern organ donor card is pink, and it certainly gets people to do what they have always meant to.
“We need people across Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, to take two minutes to save up to nine lives by confirming their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register. This could be the difference between life and death for someone else.”
Confirm your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register at www.organdonation.nhs.uk or using the NHS App in England and Wales.
It’s the best thing you’ll do today.
