You’ve probably heard about stem cells before. But what are they? And why are they so important?

Stem cells are little powerhouses helping your body to grow, develop and recover every single day.  Stem cells are your body’s “master cells” cleverly shape-shifting into any of the cells the body needs.

They are quite literally the building blocks of your body.

A blood stem cell can shape-shift into red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets which are essential for keeping us healthy.

Blood stem cells donated from healthy people can be given to blood cancer patients to give them a new immune system – saving lives.

Giving blood stem cells is similar to donating blood, your body quickly replaces the cells that you have donated.

You could be The One to help save a life.

The body is a natural fighter, the immune system protecting us from “foreign material” like bacteria and viruses every day.

This means that donated blood stem cells (from another person i.e. “foreign material”) are at risk of being rejected by a patient’s body.
The donated stem cells can also reject the patient. It is really quite complicated.

To minimise these complications, donated stem cells need to be as close a match to the patient as possible. A big big part of this criteria is ethnic background. There is a far greater chance of getting a match and the body accepting donated stem cells from someone with the same ethnic background. 

At the moment, the list of potential donors registered is not ethnically diverse enough, 87% are white.

People from non-white backgrounds are less likely to find a stem cell donor.
Less likely to survive blood cancer.

This is not okay.
You can help correct this imbalance.

The chances of finding a match become even more difficult if the person in need is mixed-race.

The likelihood of finding someone with the same mixed heritage from a register that is 87% white is pretty impossible.

We campaign for Diversifying the Stem Cell register because Margot needed stem cells from a unique mixed background: Syrian, Armenian, Scottish, Thai, English and New Zealand.

This is why it’s so important to represent your unique heritage on the donor register. You could be The One to save the life of someone like you.

The blood stem cell donor register is a list of people who have put themselves forward to donate their blood stem cells if someone needs them.

Keyword: if

Being on the register doesn’t mean that you’ll definitely be asked to donate. Just that you’re willing to donate if you’re a match with someone like you.

Most people actually don’t get the call.

You being on the list means that you represent a person from your background who may one day need help.

Wait wait wait! The register needs diversifying as a whole. There’s not enough men, not enough people of colour in general, not enough people from minority communities. There aren’t enough people in general.

The donor register is a bit like a lottery – you’ve got to be in it to win it.