Giving blood can seem scary - lots of needles and ruby-red bags of blood can be off-putting. But in reality it's easier than you think, takes just an hour, and also involves some unusual exercises that'll keep you entertained. This is what the process was like for a first-timer.
A week ago, during National Blood Week, ChronicleLive ran a story encouraging people in our area to sign up to give blood. We heard from the NHS Blood and Transplant service how it wants a million new blood donors as it battles to meet demand. Writing that piece felt a little hollow - because I had never given blood. So I decided to fix that, and show how easy and - mostly - pain-free the process is.
So on a baking hot Thursday, I walked into an old school hall in North Shields and nervously asked the first person I saw where the needles were. It turns out that's not how this works.
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