* Giving the Gift of Life' Youth Education project
** Do you live in Lambeth or Southwark ***
Join us at our next session to find out more...
* HEROES WANTED *
GIVING THE GIFT OF LIFE AMBASSADORS
Our Youth GGOL Ambassadors will help us tackle urgent health inequalities in our communities:
We are looking for a new kind of hero
Young people aged 16-25
Who are not in work, education, training and
who wish to step forward for their chance to show their community
what they can do to invest in their future success and help save lives
Wednesday 23 February 2012
@ The Trinity Centre
Beechwood Road, London, E8 3DY
12.30pm - 2.00pm
Click here for Map
Just 3 min Walk from Dalston Junction
Turn right out of station, pass courtyard and take next right turn into Beechwood Road
To book your place contact:
Sam, Davida or Louise at the ACLT Office
Call 020 8240 4480 or email ggol@aclt.org
* ACLT Giving the Gift of Life - Youth Organ Donation Education project *
HACKNEY * LAMBETH * SOUTHWARK
ACLT has an innovative youth peer-to-peer education project to understand organ donation and inspire as many young minds as possible within 3 ethnically diverse London Boroughs, and so encourage more young adults to register as organ donors. Watch this space for more details
Investing in a brighter future for you and your community
There is an MASSIVE THREAT to the future health of the UK due to the
SEVERE LACK OF ORGAN DONORS from BLACK, ASIAN, MIXED RACE & other minority ethnic communities:
Black & Asian people are 3-4x more likely to need an organ transplant
But less than 1% of people on NHS Organ Donor Register are BLACK or ASIAN
Organ donation is still a taboo in some discussions...
The ACLT team dedicate our efforts to breaking down the facts for people to understand the current crisis, bust any MYTHS & FEARS and offer people the chance to sign up as EVERYDAY HEROES
Our Gift to our Youth GGOL Ambassadors
They will be skilled up on public speaking and given the facts on organ donation and go on to inspire as many young minds through their very own Youth presentations in their communities
These talented Youth Presenters will be given the chance to receive mentoring and training to create their own presentations that will encourage more young adults to express their wish to potentially save a life and provide their young audiences an opportunity to register as organ donors
Our Gift to the Community
* More loved ones will have more time to share with each other
* Each donor could save the lives of up to 8 people
* With more potential organ donors registered increases the chances of finding racially matched donors that help to improve the quality of life of more people on organ transplant waiting lists
For info and queries contact: ggol@aclt.org
More about the URGENT NEED for more BLACK and SOUTH ASIAN ORGAN DONORS
Alas just like bone marrow and blood donation, there is also an urgent need for more people from black and south asian communities to register as organ donors
WORRYING FACTS
Black & South Asian people are 3x more likely to need an organ donor
Organs need to be closely matched by blood groups (and tissue type for kidneys), and transplant success improves when patients and donors are from the same ethnic background
Black & South Asian kidney patients wait AT LEAST 2x longer than white patients
Black & South Asian people may also have a greater risk of having other health conditions that may lead to a need for an organ such as...
DIABETES, LUPUS, SICKLE CELL ANAEMIA, THALASSAEMIA,
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, STROKE...
Would you have an organ transplant if you needed one?
Nearly everyone would say YES...
But only 29% of us have joined the Organ Donor Register
The NHS Organ Donor Registry say...
If you believe in organ donation, prove it!
More than 10,000 people in the UK currently need a transplant
Of these, 1000 each year - that's three a day WILL die waiting as there are not enough organs available for those on organ transplant waiting lists
What is the ACLT doing about the shortage of Black & Asian organ donors?
* RECRUITING MORE BLACK & ASIAN ORGAN DONORS *
Daniel De-Gale, ACLT spearhead, won his battle against leukaemia BUT sadly many years of intensive therapies took its toll and he lost his life to multiple-organ failure at the tender age of 21 in 2008. ACLT has recently expanded its work to help recruit organ donors as well as blood and bone marrow donors to address the severe shortage of organ donors
We wish to help turn people's good intentions about organ donation into action by registering more people from different ethnic backgrounds on the NHS Organ Donor Register
TWO simple steps:
1) GET THE FACTS
It's natural to have questions or possibly concerns, and so we invite you to talk to one of the team in confidence about what it means to become an organ donor
Email info@aclt.org or Call 020 8240 4480
Click here to READ & DOWNLOAD the latest organ donation facts & info
Joining the organ donor registry is really simple, all you need to do is:
* Complete a short registration form and
* Please let your family or those closest to you so that they know you have registered to give a
special Gift of Life and can confirm your wishes in the event of your death
Join the 17 million people who wish to save a life
For more information log onto organdonation.nhs.uk
NEWS & VIEWS
1 August 2011
DVLA paves the way to boost organ donor registration via drivers licence applications
Currently, around one million people sign up to the organ donor register each year, and half of them come through the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
As of the 1 August, the UK online driving licence application requires people to answer the question about joining the register before they can continue
What are the new DVLA application organ donation questions?
- Yes, I would like to register
- I do not wish to answer this question now; or
- I am already registered on the NHS Organ Donor Register
Driving changes to save lives
The NHS Organ Donor Registry in partnership with the DVLA hope this one small change alone could double the percentage of people who join the organ donation register when applying for a driving licence
ACLT supports these proactive changes...but the new organ donor registration opt-out scheme divides public opinion...is it a ‘Selfless Act' or ‘Presumed Consent'?
11 August 2011 - Blog: Outcry as drivers prompted to be organ donors
Naphtalia Loderick, a reporter from Confused.com explores in her blog the impact and public opinion sparked by the recent changes to the NHS Organ Donor Registry questions that have been incoproated with drivers licence application since 2004, and since 1995 by DVLA Northern Ireland
See reporter Naphtalia Loderick's Blog highlights below
New drivers, or those applying for a replacement driving licence, will be asked if they want to sign up to be an organ donor, in an attempt to increase the number of people on the register
The change, which came into effect at the start of August, stirred up a good debate in the media and it seems public opinion is split between those who think this is a good thing, and those who think it's an example of the so-called nanny state gone mad
The thing is, how is it ever a bad thing to prompt people to think about saving a life? Let's be honest: after death, we have no use for our bodies. So if our body parts - or to be precise, our organs - can help to save the life of another, why not?
The figures speak for themselves: there are currently 7,626 people in the UK waiting for a transplant and around 1,000 people die each year while waiting or because they have become too ill and are removed from the list
One donor recruitment charity has recently started a new project to inspire young minds as another way to boost the number of young adults registering as organ donors
The ACLT (African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust) charity raise awareness of the UK wide shortage of bone marrow, blood and organ donors, particularly in severely under-represented Black, Asian, Mixed race and minority ethnic communities. Samantha Walker, ACLT Project Administrator said
"Many still don't fully understand the gift of organ donation, it's not an everyday topic of conversation. These questions provide a vital opportunity to ask licensees to STOP, LISTEN and THINK carefully about the option to join the organ donor registry and potentially save lives in the future"
"It's a common myth that the doctors' fundamental commitment to save your life is compromised by carrying a donor card. ACLT are out and about, helping to inform and educate to dispel myths and fears and so help people of all ages make an informed choice. We will train and mentor 3 teams of 18 to 25-year-olds to discuss organ donation with their peers, on the issues and why it's important to register"
Having your chance to express your wish to leave a living legacy
"We accept a loved ones choice to leave gifts in a Will as a practical way of expressing their final wishes. Likewise, organ donor registration records our wish and specific choices to leave a living legacy to others at the end of our own. Unfortunately, just like making a Will, not enough of us formally record our wishes for our families to refer to. We definitely back the proactive change to the driving licence application as a positive move"
Click here to view the full article and latest comments on the DVLA changes
11 October 2011 - Should the NHS pay for organ donors' funeral costs as an incentive?
The NHS should pay for organ donors' funerals to encourage more volunteers and boost life-saving operations, says a new bioethics report
Click here to read article and views
So...If you believe in ORGAN DONATION...PROVE IT!
