Three grassroots Lancashire groups are to get a share of £600,000 in funding to deliver projects encouraging people of Black and Asian heritage to become blood and organ donors.

The Lancashire Council of Mosques, IMO and One Voice Blackburn are part of 51 community organisations across England and Wales that will receive a share of the funding.

It is part of a new Government commitment to continue to tackle health inequalities and promote blood and organ donations among Black and Asian communities.

Led by NHS Blood and Transplant, the Community Grants Programme is dedicated to funding projects led by community, faith, or belief organisations to inspire greater awareness and support for donations.

Lancashire Council of Mosques is an umbrella organisation representing mosques and religious teaching institutions in Lancashire, raising awareness of the collective needs of the Muslim community with service providers in the area.

One Voice Blackburn is a charity which aims to create aspirational and confident communities in Blackburn with Darwen with a focus on health, empowerment, leadership and cohesion.

IMO was initiated in 2006, by providing recreational and diversionary activities for young people they have worked with services to fill in gaps in health and wellbeing, community development and resilience and education and employment. 

More donors are urgently needed due to a shortage of blood and organs from Black and Asian backgrounds, meaning patients of these ethnicities have worse outcomes.

Recipients from the same background are more likely to match in blood, organ and sickle cell donations.

The NHS Blood and Transplant can only provide the best-matched blood for people with sickle cell, the fastest-growing genetic condition in the UK, around half the time.

Umar Malik, NHS Blood and Transplant’s community funding manager, said: “We have seen first-hand the abilities of trusted individuals and community groups to prompt conversation, tackle misinformation, educate, and offer reassurance around donation.

“Often a person’s best donor match will share their ethnicity, but too many donation opportunities are missed because families haven’t discussed organ donation.

“In the last year, strides have been made in Black blood donor representation thanks to projects like these, but more are still needed due to the growing need from sickle cell patients.”

“We are really excited to work with these grassroots champions to address inequalities and help save more lives.”

Health providers now need a record 250 blood donations a day to treat people with sickle cell disease, which is more prevalent in people from Black African or Black Caribbean backgrounds.

Studies have also found that people from Black, Asian, or minority ethnic backgrounds make up one-third of all people on the transplant waiting list, and due to the difficulties finding a match are likely to wait longer as a result.

Through engaging with grassroots organisations to champion organ and blood donation in a culturally relevant way, the Community Grants Programme will increase awareness and engagement and help move towards greater health equality and a more diverse donor base.

As part of NHS Blood and Transplant’s commitment to investing in impactful projects, the programme now offers two-year grants, a shift from the usual one-year funding cycle.