Basketball England and NHS Blood and Transplant announce partnership

Basketball England and NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) have announced a working partnership to help tackle health inequalities through education and information on blood donation.

NHSBT manages blood, plasma and platelet donation, and organ, stem cell and tissue donation and transplantation.

Its purpose is to save and improve lives.

The partnership will see BE’s platforms used at certain moments throughout the year to engage the basketball community on the importance of giving blood.

These include:

• September: Sickle Cell Awareness Month and highlighting how the disorder is particularly common in people with an African or Caribbean family background and the need for more donors to combat it
• October: Black History Month
• June: National Blood Week, which is the national campaign of the NHSBT
• 2025: The opening of the Brixton Donor Centre and a great opportunity to showcase the rich history basketball has in Brixton and how both basketball and blood donation are at the heart of the community

BE’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager Alfred Nelson said:

“We are excited to work with the NHS again and share important and life-saving messages about blood donation.

“The basketball community looking after one another is a great source of pride for BE, ensuring that everyone has a fair chance to thrive and develop within the sport.

“Donating blood is no different. The NHS needs donations to save lives and meet the needs of patients across England now and in the future.  

“We hope our partnership with the Blood and Transplant unit can encourage more people to begin their blood donation journey and raise awareness of blood disorders that commonly affect people within our community, such as Sickle Cell.”

National Commercial Partnerships Manager Benjamin Brookes said:

“We are excited to be working with Basketball England and realise our shared ambitions and the opportunities to save and change lives through the power of basketball and blood donation.

“The basketball community is tight-knit and looks after one another. Hopefully, through this partnership, we can grab its attention and help people realise how the ordinary act of blood donation can have a life-changing and life-saving effect for someone.

“At NHSBT we believe in the importance of having blood donors that reflect the communities we serve. Over the next few months there will be a focus on engaging donors of Black heritage to boost blood stocks for the treatment of sickle cell anaemia.”

Currently, blood stocks are critically low for O positive and O negative blood types and there is an urgent donor appeal.

Appointments are available across town and city donor centres, including:

• London
• Bristol
• Leeds
• Birmingham
• Manchester

BE has worked with the NHS before on its 111 campaign, which was to sign-post people to the help line as a first port-of-call of injury and illness assessment.

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