AN SNP MSP has told how is “proud” to have been given a “special award” for his outstanding contribution supporting a blood cancer charity.
Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, was presented with the award at the Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards on June 14 at an event at the Tower of London.
On Thursday, First Minister Humza Yousaf congratulated Kidd on his award in the Scottish Parliament.
Kidd told The National that he was a keen supporter of the work of the Anthony Nolan Trust, and has sponsored them in Holyrood on a number of occasions.
He was given the award for Political Supporter of the Year, given to a politician who has campaigned and championed the work of the charity over the past year.
The Anthony Nolan Trust helps to find stem cell donors for patients suffering from blood cancer, as well as carrying out groundbreaking research to improve survival rates.
Speaking to The National, Kidd urged younger people and those from ethnic minorities to sign up to become donors.
“I'm very proud to have been given this award,” he said.
“For the past three years, I've been presented with a recognition of my support for the Anthony Nolan trust.
“But this award is really absolutely special because the Anthony Nolan Trust does the most fantastic work for people across the UK and certainly all across Scotland.
“It's very, very important that we raise awareness of people's ability to sign up and become donors.
“It's very important and we need, particularly younger people, people under 30, and we also need as many people as we can find from ethnic minorities.
“Because there are great problems, frequently for people with ethnic minorities, who may suffer some form of blood disorder, to be able to receive a donation because there just aren't enough people who donated, that's growing now.”
Kidd said he had no personal link to the charity but began engaging with their work as an MSP which “inspired” him to become involved a bit more.
“They've always brought up a good, strong, knowledgeable and engaging team from London with them from the Anthony Nolan headquarters, and they just inspired all sorts.
"We’ve had the army, Fire and Rescue Service, the police, ethnic minority organisations, all sorts of people all together, all under one banner sort of thing.”
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) were also recognised for its efforts in raising awareness and inspiring others to sign up to the stem cell register.
SFRS were awarded the Shirley Nolan Special Recognition Award, nominated by the public, which recognises a supporter who has made a significant contribution to the charity.
The partnership between SFRS and the Anthony Nolan Trust was formed in 2009 when then Area Commander Ally Boyle was diagnosed with Myelodysplasia, a form of blood cancer.
Over the past 14 years, the groundbreaking partnership recruited over 19,000 people for the stem cell register and over 100 people recruited by SFRS have gone on to donate.
Kidd told The National that it was important that organisations “stand and work together” for this cause.
“The Anthony Nolan Trust has brought so many more people on board now that a lot of lives have been saved on a daily basis now,” he said.
“The swabbing is very straightforward, very simple. People can do it themselves if they don't like somebody else doing that sort of thing, and the testing is done properly and scientifically.
“Then people have contacted tissue that you aren't a potential donor, and there's no pressure on them. If they want to be, then they can be and it's great.”
“It's such an important thing for those people who suffer these disorders, these blood cancers and other disorders, to know that there's a possibility, a real, genuine possibility that their lives can be returned through this,” Kidd added.
Potential donors can sign up to join the stem cell register on The Anthony Nolan Trust’s website.
