StemCell Therapy

ACLT (THE African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust) has been honoured by blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan, at an awards ceremony held at the Tower of London.

ACLT took home the award for the black, Asian and minority ethnic advocate of the year, in recognition of the work they have done to recruit more donors from these backgrounds to the stem cell register.

The charity is committed to providing hope to patients living with blood cancer and illnesses where a matched donor (stem cell, blood or organ) is required to save a life.

The prestigious Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards were back for their seventh year to recognise the outstanding achievements of the volunteers, fundraisers, and campaigners who help the pioneering blood cancer charity save lives.

Over 23 years, ACLT have recruited thousands of potential donors from African and Caribbean descent to the Anthony Nolan stem cell register, with many people going on to donate to patients in desperate need of a life-saving stem cell transplant.

ACLT was founded IN 1996 by Beverley De Gale OBE and Orin Lewis OBE while they were searching for a matching donor for their 6-year-old son, Daniel.

Daniel had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia and needed a life-saving stem cell transplant, but at the time of his diagnosis in 1993, the number of potential donors on the register from BAME backgrounds was remarkably low. His parents were told Daniel had a 1 in 250,000 change of finding a match.

Beverley and Orin could not sit back and watch this. They got in touch with Anthony Nolan to find out how they could help, and soon after, ACLT was born. From comedy clubs, to churches, to schools, Beverley and Orin organised recruitment events far and wide to reach out to the communities most underrepresented on the stem cell register.

In 1999, Daniel De Gale was the first black person in the UK to receive a stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor. He went on to live a full and busy life, but sadly died from multiple organ failure in 2008, due to complications with his health sustained while waiting for a transplant.

ACLT is Daniels legacy, and his parents have been committed to recruiting donors and raising awareness ever since.

In the last year alone, ACLT have run 13 recruitment events to register potential donors to the Anthony Nolan Stem Cell Register, which have seen over 800 people join. Around 75% of those donors were from BAME backgrounds, and 8 people went on to donate their stem cells to patients in need.

Beverley De Gale OBE said: ACLT have been working in partnership with Anthony Nolan since the charity was formed over 23 years ago. In this time the relationship between ACLT and Anthony Nolan has grown exponentially. Were honoured to have our work of raising awareness and registering lifesaving donors recognised with the prestigious award of BAME Advocate of the Year.

Henny Braund, Chief Executive at Anthony Nolan, said: ACLT is a hugely deserving winner of this award; their incredible support and passion for our work is a fantastic example of our charity, which is built on making lifesaving connections. It was lovely to meet some of ACLTs volunteers at the ceremony and I continue to find myself inspired and humbled by the dedication and strength of supporters like them.

By recruiting potential donors, we are curing blood cancer together. We can give families hope, and give more people a future. But without supporters like ACLT lives cant be saved. Without them, there is no cure.

The awards took place on Thursday 28 November at the Tower of London and were hosted by comedian Nish Kumar.

Anthony Nolan is the charity that finds matching stem cell donors for people with blood cancer and blood disorders and gives them a second chance at life. It also carries out ground-breaking research to save more lives and provide information and support to patients after a stem cell transplant, through its clinical nurse specialists and psychologists, who help guide patients through their recovery.

See the rest here:
ACLT wins National Charity Award - The Voice Online

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