THREE loyal and committed blood donors from Fenland - who have saved up to 675 lives between them - received an award to mark their 75th donations of blood from the NHS Blood and Transplant service.

Allan James from Elm, and William Kerry and Robert Loates from Wisbech were among 117 donors honoured at a ceremony held at Norwich City Football Club.

Mr James, who describes donating as “a walk in the park”, said: “I could not wait until my 18th birthday to register as a blood donor. This was due to my father, who religiously donated every time he could.

“At a young age I felt so proud of him, knowing that he was helping others to live, and I wanted to do the same. One hour out of our busy life schedule is nothing compared to saving a life.”

Blood recipient Chris Spinks from Norwich spoke at the event about his gratitude to donors, after 14 units of blood helped to save his life. Bricklayer Chris was left fighting for his life when a building collapsed on to his left arm, while working on a garage in Cromer.

Each blood donation potentially saving the lives of up to three people, so a donor who has given blood 75 times could have helped save the lives of up to 225 patients.

Derek Carr, Lead Donor Relations Manager for East Anglia, said: “We are proud to reward these incredible people, these silent heroes, who have rolled up their sleeves so many times over the years to help save lives. Becoming a regular blood donor takes commitment and shows compassion.

“We need more than 1,000 new registrations every day to replace those donors who can no longer donate, so we hope that the stories of these dedicated doors will inspire new donors to come forward and sign up.”

Anyone wanting to donate for the first time should be aged between 17-65, weighing at least 50 kg (7 stone 12lbs) and in general good health. If you’ve donated before, you can start again up to your 70th birthday, and there is no upper age limit for donors who have donated in the last two years.

To find out if you are eligible to become a blood donor and make a date to donate, visit www.blood.co.uk or call us on 0300 123 23 23.