Britons will collectively spend an enormous £880 million celebrating Valentine’s Day this year.

Whilst not as traditional as the usual chocolates or flowers, booking a date at the local donation centre and giving blood is the ultimate gift of life and a way to meaningfully help others, with no physical of financial cost to yourself.

However, whilst absence makes the heart grow fonder, it doesn’t seem to apply to blood donors. Blood is always in demand and in short supply and only 4% of eligible people in the UK regularly giving blood. Why?

The most typical reasons given for healthy people not donating is either fear, apathy, lack of awareness or a misconception that the experience will make them feel faint, exhausted and uncomfortable.

However, by working with the NHS Blood & Transplant team (NHSBT) to address these concerns, Renfrew have taken a user centred design approach to deliver a new blood donor chair to ensure that donors have a good experience, thereby promoting repeat donations.

For the love of design…
The blood donor chair’s ergonomic form means that it can be positioned in multiple seating options, including upright and recline to make it easier to get more comfortable and relax for the donation, as well as the provision of a supported recovery position, to assist people who can feel unwell during the process, and reduce fainting.

You never know when you or a loved one might need blood, and should not take donation for granted. In fact there is a 1 in 3 chance that you or someone you care about will be on the receiving end at some point, so go on, fix that date and donate.

It’s a wonderful way to give something meaningful this Valentines.

What’s Blood got to do with it?

•Only 4% of us regularly give Blood.
•96% of us rely on the other 4% to give blood. Please don’t leave it to someone else
•On average, Hospitals across England need 7,000 units of blood every day and each unit saves or improves the lives of up to three people.
•In England, around 8,000 blood transfusions are carried out every day. Therefore, the need for blood donations remains high.
•For every pint of blood you could be saving 3 lives.
•A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 pints of blood.
•Over a lifetime, some blood donors help more than 500 people through their donations.