• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

Blood (without the gore!)

Malc2098 said:
So call the number.
...
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So I did. The answer can be summed up in two words. "Sod off". My thoughts - just one word - "Disappointing".

If you've been regularly donating then you can keep on going pasy 65 as you've found out, Malc. But anyone new and over-65 ? Forget it.
 
RogerS said:
So I did. The answer can be summed up in two words. "Sod off". My thoughts - just one word - "Disappointing".

If you've been regularly donating then you can keep on going pasy 65 as you've found out, Malc. But anyone new and over-65 ? Forget it.
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Yes, you're right. That's disappointing. When I rang at my advancing age, they couldn't have been more helpful.
 
Just giving this a bump back to the top of the pile as they are still short of supplies.

Here’s the link again

www.blood.co.uk

Home

Register to be a blood donor, give blood and save lives. Find out more about blood donation.
www.blood.co.uk www.blood.co.uk

If you are eligible please book an appointment. None of us know what is around the corner … imagine needing a pint for you or a loved one and it not being available.
 
I'm booked in again for the 3rd. Just enough time to get NYE out of my system... ;)

Interesting what Phil said about 'only' being able to donate every three months, that's standard in the UK...

I book in for my next appt whilst sat in the chair draining into the bag. Nowt else to do so might as well book in. I plan to keep going for as long as they'll let me.
 
TrimTheKing said:
I'm booked in again for the 3rd. Just enough time to get NYE out of my system... ;)

Interesting what Phil said about 'only' being able to donate every three months, that's standard in the UK...

I book in for my next appt whilst sat in the chair draining into the bag. Nowt else to do so might as well book in. I plan to keep going for as long as they'll let me.
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Mark, normal heathy young person can donate every 6 weeks with common blood groups.
Scarce groups get called as and when required.
When I hit the big 70 it moved to 3 months. The 'elderly' take a lot longer to replenish (despite all the alc to boost production :LOL:)
They can also be full of sh1t - once had a lump cut out of face below one eye, stitches were already out, but no come back in 3 months you lost blood in the operation! FFS woman, it was not even under local in the rooms and hardly any blood.
So good buy for 3 months. No use trying another branch as your record is on their computer system!
 
Phil said:
Mark, normal heathy young person can donate every 6 weeks with common blood groups.
Scarce groups get called as and when required.
When I hit the big 70 it moved to 3 months. The 'elderly' take a lot longer to replenish (despite all the alc to boost production :LOL:)
They can also be full of sh1t - once had a lump cut out of face below one eye, stitches were already out, but no come back in 3 months you lost blood in the operation! FFS woman, it was not even under local in the rooms and hardly any blood.
So good buy for 3 months. No use trying another branch as your record is on their computer system!
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Not over here mate, 3 months between donations. Nothing I can do about that, and a trip to SA every 6 weeks, while it would be nice, isn't in my budget...
 
When I worked in Kew I joined the Red Cross emergency blood donors. I am O pos.
This is an emergency service to provide fresh blood for certain operations - usually of very young children. They required blood to have all the clotting agents for emergency major operations. I'd get a phone call at any time of day or night requesting that I attend the relevant hospital in London (usually at very short notice) to donate. The donation was taken straight to the operating theatre for use. I the recived a letter after a few days telling me what I'd donated for. Nearly all were for 'Fallott's Tetralogy' - a major heart defect repair usually in very young chilldren.
 
chataigner said:
I'm banned too as a result of eating English beef.
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Every doctor and nurse that I have spoken too about this are surprised as blood donations here are tested as they are in the UK. Reasons appear to be more political than medical.
The really daft thing is that had you spent 364 days in the UK at any time between 1980 and 1996 and ate beef 3 times a day you could give blood. But 365 days or more in the same period, even if you were vegetarian, would preclude you.
 
I’m o neg cmv negative which means my blood is only used for newborn babies and juvenile cancer patients. Up to eight for each donation.

www.blood.co.uk

Special blood for babies

Newborn babies can only be transfused with blood that lacks the cytomegalovirus, this blood is labelled CMV-negative.
www.blood.co.uk www.blood.co.uk

I donated just before Christmas (Figheldean village hall @Woodbloke but sometime Salisbury Rugby Club).

It’s the most worthwhile thing I do. The bureaucracy can be a pain sometimes but I persevere.
 
woodstalker said:
I donated just before Christmas (Figheldean village hall @Woodbloke but sometime Salisbury Rugby Club).

It’s the most worthwhile thing I do. The bureaucracy can be a pain sometimes but I persevere.
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I agree but swilling around in my system are three drugs to lower blood pressure and one expensive one (think about £80 a packet) to keep cholesterol in check, so even thinking about donating blood is a complete non-starter - Rob
 
Unashamedly giving this a bump back to the top as there are still shortages.

None of know when a loved one or even ourselves may need it. Obviously there are some who cannot donate on medical grounds but, other than a bit of minor inconvenience, there are far more of us who can.

Please, if you don’t give blood and are eligible to do so do it ... here’s the link to register and pick when and where is convenient.

www.blood.co.uk

Home

Register to be a blood donor, give blood and save lives. Find out more about blood donation.
www.blood.co.uk www.blood.co.uk
 
Oddly enough, was called in by TW hospital yesterday to donate for urgent use. Pitched up as requested and now have a shocker of a bruise where the brutalist jabbed me. :rolleyes: They must maintain a database of locals now.The doctor said it is very difficult to get young people to donate.
 
As mentioned earlier in the thread I can’t give here and the lack of walk in donations has stymied me I’m afraid. I registered using a family address and I’ve checked before travelling to see if there donation appointments in the areas, no joy thus far.
 
AJB Temple said:
Oddly enough, was called in by TW hospital yesterday to donate for urgent use. Pitched up as requested and now have a shocker of a bruise where the brutalist jabbed me. :rolleyes: They must maintain a database of locals now.The doctor said it is very difficult to get young people to donate.
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I donated yesterday and got a call this morning asking if I needed any help to book my next appointment. I wonder if there is extra pressure on supplies as inroads are made into waiting lists.
 
I last donated a month or so ago and have my next booked in. I also asked to be tested to be able to donate platelets but for some reason I’m not suitable which is a shame because you can do that more often.
 
Blackswanwood said:
I donated yesterday and got a call this morning asking if I needed any help to book my next appointment. I wonder if there is extra pressure on supplies as inroads are made into waiting lists.
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I don't know, but they made a sequence of appointments for me whilst I was there, one of which is platelets. That I agreed to obviously. I'm having coffee with my GP today so I will ask her what is going on, as her friends are consultants at the hospital (which is only 5 miles away). I've never had them actually call and ask me to come in before, as far as I can remember. They appear to have relaxed the 56 day limit by giving iron supplements. I suspect this only applies to blood groups where they have a shortage (for platelets it's A- A+ and AB apparently), and it's different for men and women as well.
 
I gave blood regularly up until the mid 80's but I was told that they were not interested in me following a bout of malaria whilst teaching in Nigeria.
I had what was termed a modified form of the disease as I was taking Chloroquine and Paludrine but must have been late taking it and let one of those pesky parasites escape. I still felt absolutely awful and did so for several weeks after.
I don't know if they still refuse...
 
I used to donate at least twice a year which was how often they set up in the local town hall but they kicked me out when I reached 65. Tried a few times after that but gave up in the end and the conditions now say eligible between 17 and 65. I've still got my gold badge and little blue book somewhere I think. It's a shame because it's far easier to find the time to donate when you're retired.
My wife can't donate now for medical reasons but the kids do.
 
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So given that the NHS were saying they needed blood, I thought I would do my bit. It is about a year since I last gave blood. I logged onto the app and looked for an appointment. 8th October is the next one in my region.
Maybe the NHS need to provide more appointments and they would get more blood.
 
I must be fortunate where I live. I can rebook for donor appointments every three months. I am 75. There are also choices in the villages around this part of Devon; rugby clubs, community halls, church halls etc. So if one is not convenient I have choices within days or at most a week or two of the inconvenient date. I never have more than about 15 miles at most and 1.5 miles for my nearest.

PS I am O Neg.
 
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Probably due to your blood group Malcom as O- can be given to everyone but if you needed some it can only come from similar O- donors (I think). They don't seem so fussed about my common or garden O+ red stuff.
 
I thinks that is likely to be right about appointments for some types being prioritised. I’m B- and they call me the day after donating to get me booked back in which makes me feel guilty that I went so many years without donating.

A couple of weeks ago a friend (cutting a long story short) ended up at A&E with suspected appendicitis. It turned out that he had a ruptured bowel and he had to have several hours of surgery. He was told he’d have not survived if they hadn’t operated when they did which reinforced for me the importance of the blood bank being stocked at all times.
 
I've tried to donate when visiting UK but have yet to find an available session anywhere nearby.
There must be some very good reasons why an appointment is necessary but I can’t help thinking it makes donating just that little bit harder.
Frustrating as I can’t give blood here as I lived in UK for more than 365 days during the BSE crisis, even though I donated during and after and IIRC all UK donations are tested.
 
Lons said:
I used to donate at least twice a year which was how often they set up in the local town hall but they kicked me out when I reached 65. Tried a few times after that but gave up in the end and the conditions now say eligible between 17 and 65. I've still got my gold badge and little blue book somewhere I think. It's a shame because it's far easier to find the time to donate when you're retired.
My wife can't donate now for medical reasons but the kids do.
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Damn right, Bob. Bloody ageists😀
 
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