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7,000 patients throughout the world are waiting to find a suitable bone marrow donor.

Leukaemias are cancers of the body's blood–forming cells. They affect the body's blood making system, including bone marrow and the lymphatic system. Bone marrow is the soft, inner component of bones. All forms of blood cells are produced in the bone marrow including:

The Anthony Nolan Trust (“Trust”) and The British Bone Marrow (“BBM”) Register are the two bone marrow donor registers in the UK. The Trust is the largest and an independent charity while the BBM Register is run by the National Blood Service.

The Trust provides lifesaving bone marrow donors for patients in need of a transplant.

Less than 30 per cent of patients who need bone marrow transplants are able to find a compatible donor within their own families. The rest rely on the generosity of strangers who have volunteered to donate bone marrow to anyone in need. The Nolan Trust has given the gift of life to over 4,000 children and adults. Unfortunately, today there with 7,000 patients throughout the world waiting to find a suitable bone marrow donor and there is an ever increasing demand to recruit more donors to increase their chance of success.

There are simply not enough volunteers on The Trust's register from UK minority ethnic groups. This includes African, African-Caribbean, Asian, Chinese, Eastern European, Mediterranean, as well as donors of mixed ethnic background. For example, of the potential donors listed on the Trust's register, less than 3% of volunteers are Asian, but the figure is much lower for many other ethnic groups.

Ethnic origin is important when matching donors and patients. A patient in need of a transplant is more likely to discover a suitable donor amongst groups of people who share a similar genetic history to them. In practice this means for example, that an Afro-Caribbean patient has the greatest opportunity of finding a donor within his or her own ethnic community. However, because there are not enough minority ethnic donors on the register the pool of people which may be realistically searched for some patients is dramatically reduced.

If you are between the ages of 18-40 and in good health join the register now. Because of the shortage of male and ethnic minority donors the age range for these two classes has been increased to 43. If you are outside of the age range there is still a lot that you can do. You can still make a financial donation or get involved in a fundraising event. Joining the Trust's register is free and a long-term commitment to donate bone marrow to anyone in need. The Trust will also reimburse any expenses that you incur as a result of donating your bone marrow such as travel expenses, accommodation costs, loss of earnings and any other out of pocket expenses incurred.