During June, the Western Cape Blood Service (WCBS) celebrates National Blood Donor Month, with 14 June marking World Blood Donor Day. This month it endeavours to raise awareness of the importance of voluntary blood donation. The service also celebrates and thanks blood donors for their selfless act of saving lives.
This year’s World Blood Donor Day slogan “Give blood, give plasma, share life, share often” focuses on patients requiring life-long transfusion support and underlines the role every single person can play by donating the remarkable gift of life-saving blood or plasma.
To further raise awareness the WCBS will join myrun on Sunday 25 June at their various events across the Western Cape. “We are encouraging everyone to join in the fun as we celebrate the remarkable act of saving lives through blood donation,” says Marike Carli, Public Relations Manager for the WCBS.
One of the basic donor criteria is that blood donors should be in good general health in order to donate blood. Physical activity is vital to a healthy lifestyle, making this a great partnership. The WCBS encourages everyone to dress in red or any hero attire to fit the theme – be a local hero and donate blood. On the day, capes will be distributed to all participants to symbolise that all blood donors are heroes.
The group myrun hosts free and safe weekly timed events, bringing like-minded people together, regardless of fitness level. Routes are 2,5 km and 5 km, participants can complete them at their own pace. Participants are required to do a once-off registration by visiting www.myrun.org.za. The registration has a once-off fee of R79,90 for the timing band. After registration, participants will receive a QR code that must be presented at their myrun venue. A volunteer will link the QR code and the time band to your profile. You can then use this timing band at any myrun event.
Times are listed below per venue. If you need to collect your timing band, please arrive 15 minutes before the start of the event.
The WCBS will be present at Blaawklippen, Bloemendal, Blouberg, Imhoff Farm, Paardevlei, and Groot Brak, and participants will be able to enquire more about blood donation should they wish to. These venues will also have a “Blood Buddy” treasure hunt and spot prizes.
The start window for Blaauwklippen will commence at 07:45 for all runners who wish to keep track of their times during the run. The route will be clearly marked and all run times will be recorded by the myrun team.
For more information or to find your closest blood donation clinic, please visit www.wcbs.org.za, or download the WCBS app. For more information regarding myrun visit www.myrun.org.za , email info@myfitness.org.za or visit their social media pages at @myrunSA
Be a local hero, do something remarkable, and donate blood.
