Calling all long standing blood donors

Was anyone here a donor back in the 1980's or earlier ?.

If so you would have been given a dark blue wallet with a sticker inside the front cover with your name, address, ABO and RH group.

It would have stated 'issued by' (SOUTH LONDON BTS,

In my case the letters HVP appear after the date and this label is coloured yellow.

Out of interest, does any other blood donors here have a yellow sticker and if not what other colour is theirs and what is the significance ?.

Andrew

I was a donor for several years, starting in the mid-sixties. I was given a little light-blue booklet, maybe 3" x 2", into which they stuck an extra page after each donation. After a certain number of donations I received a little enamel lapel-pin, but can't remember how many donations qualified me for that. Eventually I stopped donating after 25 donations, so about 12 years at twice a year, thinking that was quite enough. I remember being rather discouraged when I received a letter addressed to Mrs Hogg, and thinking 'surely they must be able to tell the sex of the donor simply from the blood'.

I was B Rh-positive, which is quite rare, I believe. I don't have either the booklet or the pin now. Must have got rid of them in a clear-out at some time.

I had thought vaguely of starting again, but is there an upper age limit on donors?

Yes, I had a booklet (I recall it as being a bit smaller than 3" x 2" - more like an old Student Union card/booklet from the 60s & 70s) with a new sheet pasted in each time. It became a bit unwieldy after a while.

I have two lapel badges, one says "50", but the smaller one has no number on it, so maybe 25?

Upper limit is age 70 - unless you are a regular donor & keep on going (I'm 74 & still go three or four times a year). IIRC, a break in donations of 2 years, once you pass 70, is enough to disqualify you.

Yes, I had a booklet (I recall it as being a bit smaller than 3" x 2" - more like an old Student Union card/booklet from the 60s & 70s) with a new sheet pasted in each time. It became a bit unwieldy after a while.

Yes, I was one in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. But, I have no idea where my Blue Book is. I stopped giving blood after having had a holiday in Egypt.

I d> Was anyone here a donor back in the 1980's or earlier ?.

I got the lapel pin. I think it was after 10 donations. As for the book, I doubt I still have it, but I will have a look. My blood is also B+ and they seemed quite keen to have it. John

I'd dug out my book in the last month ,in case it was still with a letter from the blood donor centre, but no. Letter, decades ago , routine testing of my then donation showed an albumen level above 1.0 IRRC, advising to have a test at my then GP, which was back below 1, and no ongoing diabetes or whatever. Potentially a useful add-on function to this altruism. On a recent blood test , my GP trying to understand the results, and apparently although decades ago, having a temporary peak of albumen , was useful in the recent assesment.

Anyway blue folded card is 10 x 7cm with yellow insert page, no mysterious letter groups other than blood group and loads of donation inserts that always unstuck.

It may also be of interest in this thread. My mother had a rare blood group, unknown what, but she was often called upon to give in-vivo transfusions in urgent real life or death situations.

I stil have my booklet, but after suffering Pulmonary Sarcoidosis, they did not want my blood for 5 years. In that period, at least in my area, they stopped doing collections in large workplaces and switched to office hours only, pre-booked appointments, at various centres that donors had to travel to ... effectively making it too difficult for hourly paid workers to donate, so I have never resumed.

My wife is not allowed to donate, having received a blood transfusion, following a post-partum haemorrhage.

I was a donor for many years from the age of 18 and had the little blue book with a new sticker after every donation. Can't remember what happened to it. Had to give up after my 100th donation when I had the heart stent fitted and went onto statins, etc. Did get a lovely Edinburgh crystal plate after 75 donations and a crystal decanter after the 100. Both times with a meal and formal presentation to which my wife was also invited. I would have been happy to continue but the tablets put a block on any more donations. Can't remember any yellow sticker though.

I'm not sure where my blue book is, but I doubt that it has a yellow sticker. Somewhere I've got my 25 donations badge.

I started donations in the late 60s, but was banned after 47 donations as I'd visited rural Argentina and Chile in 1991. I was told that I could be a carrier for Chagas' Disease (with which I amused people by pronouncing it "Shagger's Disease!), and there was no way of testing for it. An examination of blood /might/ reveal the parasite if it was there, but probably would not. More than 30 years on I'm still around, so guess I never had it.

I seem to remember that the blue covered book was changed to a silver covered book after a certain number of donations.

I gave blood regularly for a good number of years until I had an illness that stopped me giving for 6 months. This coincided with the blood service no longer visiting my place of work and my employer still paying for the time taken to give blood. I did not give blood again after my illness.

At the time of the blood service visiting my place of work the workforce was around 2000 employees and the uptake on giving blood was quite high, probably hundreds of whole arm-fulls.

Afro/Caribbeans are often group B, and need transfusions as many have sickle cell disease (because of malaria - look it up).

For some reason they are reluctant to donate.

They'll take your last drop.

Do they drain corpses? If not, why not? They take organs from dead people, so why not blood? (I hope they are dead; do organ donors and recipients always have different doctors? If not, there could be a conflict of interest.)

>

>>> I had thought vaguely of starting again, but is there an upper age
>>> limit on donors?
>>>
>> Upper limit is age 70 - unless you are a regular donor & keep on going
>> (I'm 74 & still go three or four times a year).
>
>They'll take your last drop.
>
>Do they drain corpses? If not, why not? They take organs from dead
>people, so why not blood? (I hope they are dead; do organ donors and
>recipients always have different doctors? If not, there could be a
>conflict of interest.)

Your lot are well known organ thieves. But refuse to take a blood donation from what you call "blood impure".

My S Indian friend has that, too.

-- If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.

Joseph Goebbels

Started donating in 1983. Have a blue cardboard wallet/booklet (small diary size) that contains the slips of paper I got with each donation (including the first donation in 1983) at the time. Wallet/small booklet says it was issued in 1994 with 18 previous donations, which is similar to the layout/text you describe. Can't remember what I had before 1994. No sticker.

Yikes! Seems that I've been giving blood for 40 years. Currently up at

I have the small blue one (first donation 9 Sept 1959 at RAF Bridgnorth) and a slightly larger silver one issued Jan 1997 when the blue one was pensioned off.

The yellow label inside the blue one says issued by "6A, SHOPLATCH, SHREWSBURY"

I have that booklet and inside the front cover is a sticker which they type up with your name, address, ABO+RH group and the date you became donor. I am curious to know what colour your name+address label is and if there are any letters after the date of first donation ?

Indeed. Anyone who is Rh-negative is of more interest to the Transfusion service. O-Neg is really valuable because it can be given without cross-matching in a dire emergency.

Yes, they banned me in 1991/2 because I had travelled through South America in 1990 and did sleep rough in adobe mud huts in the Pantanal.

Then they relented because they had developed a test (I think), and I carried on donating for a few more years.