'Proud to Be' Campaign

DKMS UK are proud to celebrate the many lifesavers who have donated their blood stem cells and given people a second chance of life. Being a donor is a selfless way to help a stranger with a similar genetic background, and you might be the only person who can.

We believe every person who needs a blood stem cell transplant should be able to find a matching donor, but in order to do this, we need more potential donors who are from black backgrounds.

Why we need you

This Black History Month 2021, we are calling on you to help us diversify the stem cell register.

Currently, donors from black backgrounds represent less than 3% of the UK stem cell donor register.

A patient will most likely be matched with someone from the same ethnic background as themselves, but black donors are still massively under-represented on the UK registry.

Every 14 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer. Often, a blood stem cell donation is the best – and sometimes the only – treatment method to help give someone a second chance of life.

As it stands, patients from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds only have a 20% chance of finding the best possible blood stem cell donor match, compared to 69% for those from northern European backgrounds. We want everyone to have an equal chance.

You can make a difference

We are committed to doing all we can to make sure that everyone – regardless of their ethnicity or background – who needs a donor can find one. But we can't make this happen without you.

Please consider joining the register and being on call to donate your stem cells. It’s quick and easy, and you can feel proud to do so!