MORE than 300 Torfaen residents are among the thousands to have donated blood in April at one of the Welsh Blood Service's new regional donation hubs.

Following a series of Covid-19 related venue cancellations and social distancing restrictions, the Welsh Blood Service was unable to host donation sessions at the 30 community venues it would usually visit across Wales each week.

At the beginning of April, the service introduced a new collections schedule as part of the 'donate differently' campaign, which saw collections taken from five regional donation hubs at different locations in Wales each week.

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Across Wales, of the 6,234 individuals that visited a Welsh Blood Service donation session last month, almost two thirds (65 per cent) of donors attended a clinic that was not their usual donation venue.

In Torfaen, 340 donors came forward to give blood in April, with 46 attending a donation session for the very first time.

Alan Prosser, director of the Welsh Blood Service, said: “When it became clear we couldn’t continue with business as usual, we knew we’d have to ask donors to donate differently. Our regional donation hubs have replaced our usual local collections programme and the response from donors has been remarkable.

“100 per cent of the appointments we’ve made available since lockdown have been taken and 65 per cent of these appointments have been taken by donors who have been prepared to go even further out of their way than they usually would just to make a potentially lifesaving donation.”

The service has also saw a sharp rise in the number of new donors coming forward to donate, with 17 per cent of people attending being new donors - a five per cent increase on April last year.

Blood stocks in Wales have remained healthy throughout the pandemic as the reduced collections activity has mirrored a reduction in the volume of blood used by hospitals.

However, the service is urging donors to continue to attend their local sessions as and when lockdown restrictions are lifted.

“Blood stocks are currently very healthy thanks to the commitment of new and existing donors but we need people to keep giving blood to ensure we can continue to meet hospital demand in the coming months," said Mr Prosser. "Travel to donate is considered essential travel and anyone who is fit, well and eligible to donate can book an appointment through the welshblood.org.uk website.”