Welsh Blood Service
We were very pleased to welcome back the Welsh Blood Service (WBS). It was our second Blood Donor Day, the first being in November 2019. The original plan was to return every year, but for obvious reasons that proved impossible to put in place in early 2020 and 2021. However, in April this year we were pleased to secure a date in November, then set about the planning.
Thankfully, a lot of the logistical planning was in place from 2019, nevertheless we still underwent a regorous process to ensure we were fit for purpose. It's a major operation that the Welsh Blood Service do often, but we as a school need to plan accordingly for the one off event. A month prior to the day, Paul Chiplin from WBS delivered two presentations at our assemblies for Year 13 and 12 students, which in itself was very educational. It was an opportunity for them to as questions too.
If you wished to donate, you had to register for an appointment slot, via the Welsh Blood Service website link dedicated to our date. 69 appointments were available and our Sixth Form pupils were quickly filling them. We later opened them up to staff and with a few days to go, all slots were booked up. Very promising!
It proved to be an extremely rewarding and successful day. Of the 69 appointments, 68 donors attended, 50 were able to give blood with 39 of those 50 donations giving blood for the first time. The Welsh Blood Service were also impressed that a remarkable 24 bone marrow samples were taken too.
Some of our staff were able to donate, but the overwhelming majority of donors were Year 13 pupils, and we also had some from Year 12. Our Headteacher took the opportunity to pass on his sincere admiration for the pupil contribution and the way they conducted themselves throughout the day. They were a credit to Whitchurch High School. We are very proud to provide for our community and Wales as a whole.
The Welsh Blood Service were very complimentary of the school, hugely impressed with the students, and amazed by the overall results. It was beyond their expectations.
We still remain the only school in Cardiff to have a Blood Donor Day and we look forward to inviting them back next year!