St John Scotland volunteers thanked for blood donation support

Publication date 20 May 2022

Today marks the formal end of a 16 month partnership between St John Scotland and the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service that has seen our volunteers step up to support blood donation sessions across the country during Covid.

A man stands next to a sign saying blood transfusion centre entrance

The NHS needs six days’ supply of blood stocks to meet patient needs in Scotland, so this vital service had no choice but to continue during the pandemic. In January 2021, SNBTS called on the support of St John Scotland volunteers to help keep donors and staff safe by taking donors through Covid protocols when they arrived at sessions.

With Covid restrictions now easing, our volunteers are now moving back to other roles in our core services.

Since the partnership started in January 2021, St John Scotland triage volunteers supported more than 1,200 blood donation sessions and contributed more than 4,000 hours of volunteering, from Dumfries to Wick.

Susan Webster, Collection Planning Manager for SNBTS, said: “St John Scotland and your volunteers have done an amazing job in supporting SNBTS through a very difficult and challenging time. The work you and your volunteers have done has been of great value to our donor team staff and our donors and I extend heartfelt thanks to each and every one who have given their time to help us all stay safe.”