The Midlands Khidmat-e-Khalq department organised a blood donation session with the National Blood Service (NBS) at the Darul Barakaat Mosque, Birmingham. This took place on Sunday 28^th March 2010.  Leading up to the event, the Khuddam handed out flyers and knocked on local residents' doors informing them of the event. Although this was a Khuddam event, the whole Jama’at was invited to attend and a huge attendance campaign that was started 4 weeks before the session. We also sent out a number of press releases to the local media to generate some further publicity.

 

 

The session started at 10.00am, however the dedicated blood donation team arrived at 8.00am to set up the main sports hall in the mosque for the session. The male members of the Jama’at were invited to attend in the morning and there was a steady flow of donors throughout the session. The session was due to stop at 12.00pm, however a number of members arrived after this time, but had to be turned away as the afternoon session was devoted exclusively to the Lajna. 20 men donated in the morning session.

 

There was a break for lunch between 12.00pm and 1.30pm during which the 7 NBS staff members were treated to a sumptuous meal provided by the Ziafat team. There was plenty spare, so a number of them also took food home for their families.

 

The afternoon session started at 2.00pm with a flourish that continued until the end. The Lajna turned out in good numbers, and we managed to get 31 donations by the end of their time at 4.00pm. They have thrown down the gauntlet for the next session, and the men will have to do better! In defence of the men, this was the day that the clocks went forward and most of them overslept and hence arrived late, only to be turned away!

 

We were all very impressed by the courtesy and professionalism of the NBS staff and appreciated the fact that they held a donation session for us on a Sunday. I would personally like to thank the Midlands Regional Nazim Khidmat-e-Khalq, Dr S. Khuram Ahmed Sahib, and the national Nazim Khidmat-e-Khalq, Mr. Shiraz Sethi Sahib, for their advice and assistance in arranging this event.

 

This was a new initiative with the NBS to try to increase the number of donors from the South Asian Community. To encourage more female donors, the session was segregated into male and female donation sessions. It is hoped that this will become a regular blood donation venue for the NBS in the future.

 

Wassalam