Manchester Withington MP Jeff Smith is supporting the Missing Type campaign to find the blood donors of the future.

This year’s Missing Type campaign – first held by NHS Blood and Transplant in 2015 – brings together 25 blood services from 21 countries to call for new donors to ensure blood donation for future generations.

Throughout the campaign As, Bs and Os – the letters of the main blood groups – are disappearing in iconic locations around the world, as well as being dropped from the Twitter biographies and email signatures of supporters.  The campaign aims to raise awareness of the particular need for more young blood donors, more black and Asian donors, and more donors with O negative and A negative blood to guarantee the right mix of blood groups to meet future patient need.

Jeff said: “I’m proud to support the Missing Type campaign and I hope that people in Manchester Withington will help ‘fill in the gaps’ by registering as new donors.

Donated blood is used for patients with a variety of conditions like anaemia and cancer but also for patients having surgery and new mothers who lose blood in childbirth.  Every donation helps or saves up to three people.”

Mike Stredder, Director of Blood Donation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Blood donation is an amazing gift and we are really grateful to Jeff Smith for his support. Blood transfusions save lives.

Thanks to the generosity of our current donors, hospitals have the blood needed to treat patients and there is not a crisis in blood stocks.  However, we need more people to start giving blood to replace those who can no longer donate and to ensure we have the right mix of blood groups to match patient needs in the future.

Don’t worry if you’ve never given blood before and don’t know what blood group you are – you find out shortly after your first donation. What’s important is that you register as a donor and book your first appointment to donate.”

For more information on the campaign visit: www.blood.co.uk, call 0300 123 23 23, or watch the campaign video.