\n In the lead up to Christmas, I can’t help but think of all those who are in need this time of year and how we can do little things to help them.\n<\/p>\n
\n So in the run up the the festive season I popped down to Glasgow Blood Donor Centre in the city centre to give up a pint to fill the services stock.\n<\/p>\n
\n The NHS aims to have at least six days worth of stock of each blood type to meet the requirement of patients.\n<\/p>\n
\n However the service receives a drop of up to 20 per cent in donors during the festive period.\n<\/p>\n
\n In a bid to show others how quick and simple this process can be, I headed down to the centre to do it myself.\n<\/p>\n
\n This occasion marks my seventh donation, so I am familiar with the format. You are greeted at the door and handed a form with some simple questions to make sure you are fit and well.\n<\/p>\n
\n After handing it in, I grabbed a drink of water to ensure I was fully hydrated and waited for my name to be called.\n<\/p>\n
\n This took me just 30 minutes and could change someone’s life this Christmas (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n
\n Staff talk you through every part of the process. (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n
\n A nurse then went over my form with me, checked my iron levels with a simple finger prick and guided me over to a chair where I would sit for the next five to ten minutes.\n<\/p>\n
\n I am not the biggest fan of needles, and confessed to my nurse that I am not the most confident but I couldn’t have been met with a more reassuring woman, who made sure I was comfortable throughout the process.\n<\/p>\n
\n However, once the needles was in with only the feeling of a ‘small scratch’, the collection was started I was almost embarrassed by my earlier fears. It really is not that bad.\n<\/p>\n
\n After your donation staff offer you some juice. (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n
\n This took me just 30 minutes and could change someone’s life this Christmas (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n
\n I sat, scrolled on my phone, chatted with my nurse, took a few minutes to chill and plan out the rest of my day. Before long, the ‘ping’ on the machine signalled I was over.\n<\/p>\n
\n After making sure everything went smoothly, I collected my apple juices, and Tunnock’s Teacake (can’t be anything else) and headed back to the office with the reassurance I had done something good that day.\n<\/p>\n
\n This took me just 30 minutes and could change someone’s life this Christmas (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n
\n For a simple 30 minutes, my blood could change the life of those in need who require a transfusion or blood donation to keep them alive.\n<\/p>\n
\n You can book in online at www.scotblood.co.uk<\/a>\u00a0or by calling 0345 90 90 999 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm). You can also email \u00a0nss.snbtsenquiry@nhs.scot.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n This Christmas, sparing just half an hour could be your good deed of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the lead up to Christmas, I can’t help but think of all those who are in need…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,918,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-610936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-glasgow","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115659524214277709","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}