Update 09/04/2020 

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

Firstly, due to the overwhelming response from Australians like you, we have reached our Strength to Give target earlier than expected. We thought it would take a year to recruit 5,000 new donors, but it turns out we only needed 9 months! And all this without a marketing campaign – amazing!

Thank you to all of the wonderful 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 – our budget can only stretch to testing around 5,000 donors. This is because Australian governments fund the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood to recruit their blood donors onto our stem cell registry; we don’t receive any funding to recruit anyone else.

So we’re pausing Strength to Give recruitment while we seek support to continue.

With around 85% 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.

>  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 key 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 around the world.

If you need to get in touch, contact us at info@strengthtogive.org.au and follow our social accounts on Facebook and Instagram for further Strength to Give updates.

Fingers crossed we will be back sending out swab kits to all you future lifesavers as soon as possible!