Hey Australia, we have some good news and some bad news.

Firstly, due to the overwhelming response from Australians like you, once again we have reached our Strength to Give target earlier than expected. Thank you to all of the beautiful people who have had the Strength to Give and register to be potential donors. You have given hope to the thousands of Australians who have a blood cancer or disorder.

Unfortunately, our success has brought a problem – we exhausted the funding we have received from governments to recruit donors through the Strength to Give program.

So we’re pausing Strength to Give recruitment while we seek support to continue Strength to Give on an ongoing basis and bigger and better than ever.

With around 80% of Australian patients now dependent on overseas donors, the need to grow Australia’s pool of blood stem cell donors is as real as ever. We think Strength to Give has proven that when it’s easy for good people like you to join the Registry, you will flock to sign up.

If you’ve already signed up with Strength to Give, here’s what you need to know:

• If you currently have a swab kit or have already registered with us to receive one, you are one of the lucky last to join! Please follow the instructions in the kit and send us back your swabs, and we will absolutely register you as a donor. Don’t sit on your kit! Remember, the sooner we get your swab kit back, the sooner you might be able to save a life. We can’t wait to have you on board!
• If you have recently sent back your swabs and haven’t received confirmation of your successful registration, hold tight – your swabs are being processed, and you will be registered soon!
• If you have already registered as a donor and have received an email from us, congratulations, you are officially on the donor registry! Nothing changes for you – we will continue to send you updates and important info to your email.

And if you haven’t yet joined, and you’re a blood donor, you can still sign up – just ask when you’re next giving blood.

Of course, the Registry itself isn’t going anywhere; we will continue with our critical work of sourcing donors for patients in Australia and worldwide.

If you want to get in touch, contact us at info@strengthtogive.org.au, and follow our social accounts (Facebook and Instagram). We’ll still be sharing information, stats and stories on our socials whilst we are paused. Fingers crossed we will be back sending out swab kits to all you future lifesavers as soon as possible!