** Tuesday 4th October 2011**
ACLT Cofounder BEVERLEY DE-GALE OBE
at Windsor Castle for her OBE investiture
Beverley De-Gale attended an Investiture Ceremony at Windsor Castle on Tuesday 4th October, to receive the OBE from The Princess Royal in recognition for services to healthcare
ITV London Tonight feature on Beverley's post-ceremony interview
Reported by Ronke Phillips (04/10/11) at 1.50pm and 6pm
Click here to WATCH AGAIN on www.itv1/london
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BBC London 94.9 - The Breakfast Show with Gaby Roslin & Paul Ross
BBC iPlayer 4/10/2011
Click here to listen again to Beverley live en route to Windsor Castle, scroll to 2h14m00s
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Queen's Birthday 2011 Honours List ANNOUNCEMENT on Saturday 11 June 2011
(Click the Movie Clapperboard icon above to view the video about Beverley's award)
(Click Here to see the ITN London Tonight video tribute to Beverley)
Saturday June 11th 2011 marks the day that co-founder of leading UK Leukaemia charity, African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT), Beverley De-Gale, is awarded with an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's Birthday 2011 Honours List by the Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary in recognition For services to Healthcare.
The list is published today recognising outstanding achievement and service across the whole of the United Kingdom. The vast majority of the awards go not to stars of sport, stage and screen but to extraordinary people who are making a real difference and contribution to their community through volunteering, fundraising, social action and philanthropy.
Beverley De-Gale said: "I am both proud and delighted to be awarded this honour by Her Majesty the Queen for my services to Healthcare in Britain and I feel very honoured to accept it on behalf of my children, late mother & father, family, and everyone associated with the life saving and groundbreaking work of the ACLT. It was during 1996 my partner (ACLT co-founder Orin Lewis) and I received the devastating news our 8 year old son Daniel De-Gale, would need a life saving bone marrow transplant in order to win his 3 year battle against Leukaemia. I never could have imagined that I would be standing here 15 years later in the exact month of when the charity was born and almost to the day on the 16th June 1999 when Daniel finally received his transplant. However as much as I feel completely overwhelmed with emotion and pride receiving this momentous personal accolade it is also tinged with a feeling of bitter sweetness, because the catalyst and inspiration for this award, Daniel, is now no longer with us having succumbed to an unrelated illness at the age of 21 in October 2008.
Having recruited tens of thousands of new bone marrow, blood and organ donors from the hardest to reach communities and in turn directly saving lives in the UK and abroad, it does fill me with joy that our efforts have been recognised and is held in such high regard.
My deepest thanks and gratitude goes out to all of the many individuals (especially our loyal and fantastic small team of staff and volunteers), communities, organisations and families of patients who have supported me and the ACLT in our never ending quest to educate, motivate, inspire, empower and influence individuals to step forward and commit to becoming potential lifesavers.
Special thanks and love to my brothers and sisters and Daniel's donor, Doreene Carney, for their support especially during the many dark and painful episodes of this journey and when I receive the award at the Investiture I will also be thinking about how proud my late mother and father would be of me.
Finally, it is due to the undiluted love and support of my beloved daughter, Dominique, Orin and of course Daniel that I have been able to achieve and make a difference to someone in need. They have always had faith in me and believed in me and if Daniel was physically still with us today, he would easily sum it all up in 2 words. GOOD TIMES".
The OBE award arrives at a significant time for the ACLT, following a successful appeal where over £120,000 was raised by the general public between January - March this year, to help secure the short to medium future of the charity. The ACLT continue to work hard in spreading awareness on Bone Marrow, Blood and Organ donation within the Black, Asian and Mixed Race communities in the UK, encouraging individuals to join the registers in the hope their donation could potentially become a life saving match.
With over 17.1 million people on the NHS Organ Donor Register and only 1.5 per cent of these are from the Asian communities and a woeful 0.4 per cent are from the Black community, the ACLT life saving work is vital to assist with increasing the opportunities to save lives when Bone Marrow, Blood or Organ donation is required.
On Saturday June 18th, the charity will be holding their first major recruitment drive of the year at Global Radio headquarters, 30 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7LA, between 11am - 4pm. Named "SUPERHEROES DONATION DAY", in response to the plight of 3 year old Kye Carpenter-Mark from Southall, Middlesex, the ACLT are urging individuals from Black, Asian and Mixed race groups to take 30 minutes out of the day and join the donation registers.
Working alongside long term partners Choice FM, Anthony Nolan and NHS Blood and Transplant, the ACLT hope to find a potential donor for Kye in addition to three other sufferers who the charity are currently supporting; who include three year old Nevaeh Green a sufferer of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL); a childhood form of leukaemia and whose mother is looking for a matched donor in the event Nevaeh has a relapse from the disease, 11 year old Sapphire Timson a sufferer of full blown Sickle Cell who doctors have confirmed should a match be found they will seriously consider her for a Bone Marrow transplant and 53 year old mother of two Denise Gayle a sufferer of Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma (cancer of the blood), who is in need of a life saving matched donor, without it Denise will not beat the disease.
With over 17.1 million people on the NHS Organ Donor Register and only 1.5 per cent of these are from the Asian communities and a woeful 0.4 per cent are from the Black community, the ACLT life saving work is vital to assist with increasing the opportunities to save lives when Bone Marrow, Blood or Organ donation is required.
On Saturday June 18th, the charity will be holding their first major recruitment drive of the year at Global Radio headquarters, 30 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7LA, between 11am - 4pm. Named "SUPERHEROES DONATION DAY", in response to the plight of 3 year old Kye Carpenter-Mark from Southall, Middlesex, the ACLT are urging individuals from Black, Asian and Mixed race groups to take 30 minutes out of the day and join the donation registers.
Working alongside long term partners Choice FM, Anthony Nolan and NHS Blood and Transplant, the ACLT hope to find a potential donor for Kye in addition to three other sufferers who the charity are currently supporting; who include three year old Nevaeh Green a sufferer of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL); a childhood form of leukaemia and whose mother is looking for a matched donor in the event Nevaeh has a relapse from the disease, 11 year old Sapphire Timson a sufferer of full blown Sickle Cell who doctors have confirmed should a match be found they will seriously consider her for a Bone Marrow transplant and 53 year old mother of two Denise Gayle a sufferer of Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma (cancer of the blood), who is in need of a life saving matched donor, without it Denise will not beat the disease.
WE STILL NEED YOUR SUPPORT, LET'S UNITE TO FIGHT FOR THE ACLT
The charity urges the public, the community, and influential individuals and organisations to continue to unite, and support our cause and help raise vital funds for the ACLT.
This will enable us to continue our life saving work of finding donors and supporting families in need. Because due to lack of black/mixed race donors there's a 1 in 100,000 chance of a black or mixed race person finding a bone marrow match, only 0.05% of blood donors are black despite many Sickle Cell sufferers needing transfusions and black people are 3 times as likely as white people to develop kidney failure but only 0.5% of organ donors are from the black community. Therefore we urgently need more blood, bone marrow and organ donors to register as patients are still waiting for a donor. Please contact us at the ACLT on 020 8240 4480, drop us an email info@aclt.org or visit our website http://www.aclt.org// and we can help you to help someone else in need of the gift of life.
New quick and easy Saliva tests are here!
Yes that's right, we've just made registering as a super lifesaver easier with our one-stop donor registration events. The Anthony Nolan Trust has developed the UK's first 'Spit Kit' designed for bone marrow stem cell donor registration for people aged 18 to 40. The ACLT is working with other donation partners to register more people from our ethnically diverse society.
What's new?
New donors aged 18-40 give a saliva sample instead of the initial blood sample when they register with the Anthony Nolan via the ACLT. No eating, drinking, smoking or chewing gum or sweets for 30 minutes before your saliva test.
Read more for details about the changes and how and where to register.
We ask all our supporters to spread the word amongst work and social networks.
'Just do your bit, Spit and Commit'
Those aged 41-49 can still register as a bone marrow donor, but will do it through giving a blood sample as a blood donor to the National Blood Service...
The ACLT and National Blood Service (NBS) part of the NHS Blood and Transplant service continue to appeal to encourage the Black & Mixed Race community to register as new and regular blood donors.
40 minutes of your time is all it takes to save someone's life.
All we ask is for you to find the time to give 1 unit (475 mls) of blood during your lunch hour or break, before, during or after work, university and college or on your day off.
These valuable donations were whisked off to blood banks at hospitals across the nation, and prepared for people who urgently needed a blood transfusion. One unit of blood, used whole or separated into its components can help to sustain one or more people - benefiting those with cancer or Sickle Cell, mothers who give birth or during surgery and medical emergencies and more.
It's that precious!....but it can only be stored for a short time, and stocks need to be maintained continuously. 8,000 units of blood are needed every day to meet hospital demand.
Donations really do make a difference, Daniel De-Gale survived for the last 2-3 years simply because of people who regularly donate blood. At times he needed 3-5 units on a weekly basis and if it wasn't for them Daniel would not have been able to attend university or get on with his life and reach the age of 21. All of the ACLT staff and volunteers who can donate already give blood on a regular basis but sadly, very few people from the Black and Mixed Race community do.
Will you please step forward NOW to start the change the Black or Mixed Race community needs today?
Please don't leave it to someone else. Your community needs you
All you will need to do is book an appointment by ringing 0300 123 23 23 or www.blood.co.uk and turn up! It's really simple. PLEASE book an appointment today, and also encourage your family and friends to book an appointment.
Remember, we are here to answer any queries, fears or concerns you have about becoming a bone marrow, blood or organ donor in confidence, please give us a call on 020 8240 4480, drop us an email info@aclt.org or visit our website http://www.aclt.org//
Every donation counts and collectively, we can all help save many more lives.
You can Be the One to make a difference
We still believe in miracles! How high can we go?
How far can we reach?
Can we do it? Together we can. Thank you deeply for all of your past, present and future ongoing support.
Beverley De-Gale OBE, Orin Lewis and the ACLT Family
(Video courtesy of the Press Association UK)
