National Blood Week Campaign Encourages Shop Signs and Street Signs to Drop Letters

According to recent statistics released by the NHS, 120,000 fewer people started donating blood in 2014/15 compared to 2004/5. The NHS says it needs 204,000 new volunteers this year to ensure the blood supplies continue to remain at the same level in the future. The assistant director for donor services Jon Latham said: “We simply can’t ignore the fact that there has been a stark reduction in the number of new donors coming forward – a trend seen across the world. While we can meet the needs of patients now, it’s important we strengthen the donor base for the future.”

National Blood Week

So, a fascinating campaign to raise awareness of National Blood Week has swept across the UK, causing letters to disappear from street signs and shop signs across the country. It’s all part of a campaign launched by Give Blood NHS which has been designed to encourage people to donate. Shop signs, street signs and landmarks are removing the letters A, O and B from their signs in order to symbolise the donors’ blood groups that are needed to maintain the much needed supplies in Britain.

Maintaining a Safe Supply of Blood for the Future

National Blood Week runs from 8 – 14 June, and the campaign hopes to build awareness of the shortage and encourage the public to donate blood. They’ve called the campaign #MissingType, and even the Prime Minister’s official residence has become D wning Street. As makers of shop signs Sheffield, we think it’s a great idea to show support for such a worthy cause in a way that will be seen by huge numbers of people and help to raise awareness.

The head of PR at Give Blood NHS, Andrea Ttofa told Buzzfeed News: “There’s a decline year-on-year of the number of new people donating, and more than half of current donors are over 45. It’s important to take action now in order to maintain a safe supply of blood for the future,” she continued. “We’re hoping many more individuals and companies will get behind it to drive thousands of people to be new donors.”

Shop Signs Sheffield

Although we’ve not noticed any shop signs Sheffield having their letters removed, it’s certainly an interesting campaign that is bound to get the attention of the general public, especially with large companies such as Odeon, Green and Blacks, and Waterstones on board.

For more information about our shop sign making services, call us on 0114 261 7617 to get in touch and chat to a member of our friendly team.