On Tuesday 27th January the ACLT kicked off our 2009 registration drives in STYLE!!! Thanks to the friends (and new ACLT volunteers) of ‘Daniel Playzo De-Gale’

The ACLT hosted a registration drive at the Newton Rooms, Hamilton Hospitality Block at Brunel University in Uxbridge. Time: 11.30 till 3.30pm

We commenced with an awareness initiative on Monday 26th January. The Brunel ACS (African Caribbean Society) the NUS (National Union of Students and the Equality and Diversity Department hosted a fundraising event in the evening for the ACLT called the ‘Heroes Awards Charity Night’

Students selected students and lecturers that had exceeded their expectations with regards to day to day studies and commitment.

The ACLT invited our Trustee Tim Campbell, firm ACLT supporter Richard Blackwood and our Patron the Duchess of York’s office Charity Assistant Nadia Boukraa who all attended to support and hand out some of the Awards and to offer words of encouragement about bone marrow donation to the audience of students.

Thank You to Tim, Richard and Nadia for attending and helping to make it a very special evening.

The final award of the evening was handed to Beverley & Orin on behalf of their son Daniel. This award was in recognition of what has been achieved to save other lives around the world in Daniel’s name.

The following day at the same location we held the registration drive and we recruited an amazing 208 students as new potential bone marrow donors onto the Anthony Nolan Trust register.     

It was a mammoth task but we got there and actually over ran by about 2 hours! However, it was not a problem, we just kept going.

In addition the ACLT invited the NBS (National Blood Service) who recruited 35 new blood donors.

It was a very emotional day as some of the students who attended the ‘Heroes’ night knew Daniel or had friends who knew Daniel or had heard about his achievements and they all came to register at the drive and encouraged others to do likewise. There were tears and many hugs. Some had to wait up to 2 hours to register but the mood was so high. It was an electric evening!!

A friend of Daniel’s ‘Aaron White’ decided to shave his hair off and raised approx. £500 for the ACLT. He attended the drive with his brother and his father who actually shaved Aaron’s hair at the drive!! Aaron’s father is NOT a BARBER!! There were lots of applause and cheering as his hair fell to the ground.

One of the students who registered wanted to pen how it made him feel when he registered at the drive. Here are his words...

“After I witnessed what it is that ACLT do to change lives, joining the bone marrow and blood register was no longer an option but more a responsibility. The question that burdened me however was whether it was allowed for one of Islamic faith to do so. Discovering that it was broke all barriers of doubt and I walked into the bone marrow & blood drive confident and full of hope. While waiting all I could hope for was that there was someone out there that I could help just like Daniel and that it was my duty to do so. I left feeling like a true HERO!” Saleem K. Amer

‘Thank you’ everyone who attended and also those that helped out. To Daniel’s friends (Younga Playzo Family) who are now onboard as volunteers, we would like to say a very special ‘thank you’ for wishing to be a part of this amazing journey!