Team Margot Foundation had a bit of a landmark day on Tuesday 6 December when a new All-Party Parliamentary Group held its inaugural meeting.

The charity conceived of this idea (thanks to one of our team, Alan Miller pictured above, far right) and in the ensuing months set about making it a reality.

Team Margot Foundation is the Secretariat for this new All-Party Parliamentary Group : Ethnicity Transplantation and Transfusion and huge thanks must go to Paul Hegarty (pictured above, far left), a very experienced Honorary Secretary for the Beer Group for volunteering to be Honorary Secretary for our APPG, on a pro bono basis.

We are enormously grateful too to the MPs, Baroness and Lord who have supported the new Group and who are listed below. Special recognition and thanks must go to the Group Chair Sarah Olney MP and Megan Harding from her office, without whom the journey to holding an inaugural meeting might not have occurred so soon.

Our manifesto is below for your attention and it is followed by the official press release and some photographs.

As ever, thank you for your support.

Team Margot
Together, saving lives

L to R: Yaser Martini, Orin Lewis, Sir Peter Bottomley MP (Officer), Nadia Martini

Megan Harding, Sarah Olney MP (Chair) and Fleur Anderson MP (Officer)

A new All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ethnicity Transplantation and Transfusion (ETT) held its inaugural meeting in Parliament today.

Chair, Sarah Olney, MP for Richmond Park, said “The sad reality is that it is far harder to find a match for organ donation if you are from an ethnic or mixed-race background. The latest census data shows that 18% of the UK population is from an ethnic minority. It is vital that transplantation and transfusion services engage with ethnicities from all backgrounds if the NHS is going to serve our increasingly diverse population.”

Orin Lewis OBE, Chair of the National BAME Transplant Alliance and co-Founder of ACLT said “We are raising awareness of how the lack of donor participation affects patients with ethnically diverse backgrounds. Mixed and minority ethnic patients requiring an organ, stem cell or bone marrow transplant or a blood transfusion face enormous health inequalities. It is vital that there is equal access to transplants and transfusions for mixed and minority ethnic patients.”

“The new All-Party Group will advocate changes to encourage more donors to come forward from ethnically diverse communities to donate blood, organs, stem cells and bone marrow. This will help save and improve the lives of patients from all backgrounds across the UK.”

L to R: Orin Lewis, Mark Tami MP (Officer), Paul Hegarty (Honorary Secretary), Nadia Martini, Yaser Martini, Tim Hammersley, Alan Miller

Team Margot co-founder, Yaser Martini BEM, said “I discovered the vital importance of donors when my own daughter, Margot, was diagnosed with Leukaemia at just 14 months of age. Whilst she did have a bone marrow transplant, her ‘perfect match’ was not found and Margot died when she was only two years old.”

“This new Parliamentary Group will work to ensure that we develop the right policies in the UK to ensure everyone is able to access the right treatment, whatever their ethnicity. To ensure that no more families have to face the tragedy of losing a loved one for the lack of a life-saving donor match.

6th December 2022

For more information contact Yaser Martini
yaser@teammargot.com or +44 7770 672 559

About:  Team Margot Foundation (charity no: 1160236) will provide secretariat support to the new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Ethnicity Transplantation and Transfusion (ETT) to raise awareness of health inequalities and to promote policy change to help save and improve more lives through greater ethnic donor participation. Further information can be found on the Team Margot website

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ethnicity Transplantation and Transfusion (ETT) Executive members are: Honorary President – The Baroness Benjamin DBE OBE; Chair – Sarah Olney MP (LibDem); Vice Chair – Bambos Charalambous MP (Lab); Vice Chair – Mark Tami MP (Lab); Officers: Feryal Clark MP (Lab), Fleur Anderson MP (Lab), Lord Evans of Rainow (Con), Marsha De Cordova MP (Lab), Sir Peter Bottomley MP (Con).