HERE are all the places in Gwent where you can donate blood as doctors across Wales deal with short supplies.

Welsh Blood aims to always have a stock of seven days’ worth of blood for each blood group.

But none of Welsh Blood’s supplies are at this level and, as of Tuesday, October 31, in some groups they barely have three days.

Even the most common O blood types, which the NHS say accounts for 44 per cent of people in the UK – is running in short supply in Wales.

The rarest type, AB negative, accounts for just one per cent of donors. Around one in 10 people have O negative blood, which can be given to anyone in emergencies and used for transfusions into babies. For this reason, Welsh Blood are focusing their appeal on O negative and O positive donors.

How much supply of each blood group does Welsh Blood currently have?

  • AB negative – 3.2 days;
  • O negative – 3.3 days;
  • O positive – 3.9 days;
  • A positive – 3.9 days;
  • AB positive – 4.2 days;
  • A negative – 4.6 days;
  • B negative – 5.9 days;
  • B positive – 6.7 days.

If you don’t already know your blood type, you can find out the first time you give a donation.

The components in blood, including red blood cells, platelets and plasma, can be used to treat a plethora of conditions ranging from anaemia to cancer and those with blood disorders to those having surgery.

Holly Davies, 19, from Torfaen has thanked blood donors for giving her family valuable time with her grandfather.

David Rees was given six to twelve months on his 87th birthday, July 18, 2018.

Holly says her grandad, affectionately named “Dave the Lamp” for his love of blowlamps, had more than 60 blood and four platelet donations over an 18-month period after being diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.

Mr Rees was a former deputy head of Croesyceiliog Junior School in Cwmbran.

“We started going on day trips as often as we could to make as many memories as possible," said Ms Davies.

“One day I remember pushing him in his wheelchair up the steepest hill in Ross-on-Wye and I remember the joy on his face when we eventually made it to the top, as well as bursting out laughing when he saw how much I was sweating!” she said.

“Around the time of his diagnosis I also started to donate blood.

“I’d always known it was an important thing to do, but to see the difference that it makes to someone you love makes you want to help others in similar situations,” Holly said.

“Being able to spend that additional time with my Bamp was a gift I will never be able to truly show my gratitude for. I just hope I can play a small part in giving more people a second chance at life or more time with their loved ones.”

To book a donation, visit donorportal.wales.nhs.uk/AppointmentSystem