Blood donation: Hamilton Lugtons real estate branch turns into blood clinic

Lugtons Hamilton Central is hosting a blood clinic next Thursday. Photo / 123RF

Waikato real estate agency Lugtons will put away the hammers in its Hamilton Central auction room to make space for needles, as the demand keeps rising for blood donations.

When the Lugtons team heard that the NZ Blood Service is in urgent need of more blood, they decided to show real support and transform their auction room at 1010 Victoria St into a public blood clinic on Thursday, April 27.

Lugtons Central branch sales manager Natasha Fraser says the idea for the blood drive started with a casual discussion in the tearoom.

“Many of our team and their families have required blood transfusions in the past which led to us knowing we needed to help ... It was a no-brainer,” she says.

Eligible blood donors are invited to book a time slot, available from 8.30am to 1pm, online prior to the event. On the day, people are asked to bring an ID.

“After your donation is complete, tea, coffee and morning tea items will be available,” Fraser says.

New Zealand needs over 4000 blood donations every week but only less than 3 per cent of Kiwis are blood donors. There is no substitute for blood, which is needed to treat patients with chronic anaemia (from disorders such as kidney failure or cancer) and acute blood loss (as a result of trauma or surgery).

To find out whether you are an eligible donor, visit the NZ Blood Service website.