Red Saturday took place on Saturday 25 November and originates from their annual one-day, 10 malls, 100 units of blood campaign that started in 2021. Red Saturday focuses on the ultimate special and savings amidst all the Black Friday deals.
As The Western Cape Blood Service (WCBS) gears up for the added pressure on the blood supply over the festive season, they are encouraging the public to give the ultimate gift.
“By donating one unit of blood, you get to save up to three lives”, says Marike Carli, Public Relations Manager at WCBS.
“Currently, we have a critical shortage in O negative as we only have a three-day supply and we always aim to have a five-day supply in each of the eight blood groups,” says Carli.
The O blood group is the universal blood group and can be given to all blood types.
O negative can be given to all blood groups and O positive can be given to all positive blood groups.
It is often needed in the case of emergencies and given to newborn babies in need of blood.
Carli explained that the blood group that is most needed is the one we don’t have sufficient stock of. Blood stocks fluctuate due to various reasons.
Red Saturday took place on Saturday 25 November and originates from their annual one-day, 10 malls, 100 units of blood campaign that started in 2021. Red Saturday focuses on the ultimate special and savings amidst all the Black Friday deals.
“We aim to encourage the public to share in the ultimate special – where you give one unit of blood and save up to three lives. This is a pivotal campaign to help us with the increased pressure on blood supply over the festive season,” says Carli.
According to Carli, this year they aimed to collect 1 000 units of blood and welcome 300 new donors.
However, they managed to collect 982 units of blood, of which 214 were new blood donors.
“Over 1 000 people came out to donate blood,” says Carli.
“We have five fixed sites: Blue Route, Kenilworth Centre, Long Street and CapeGate. There are also weekly residential clinics available in communities and donors may choose where to donate based on convenience,” explains Carli.
