MORE than 1,800 people in Dorset responded to a call and gave blood during a campaign to tie in with the Rugby World Cup.

Now donors are being urged to give again before Christmas.

NHS Blood and Transplant says in 11 weeks between August and October, 1,814 people living in Dorset who had never given blood before registered to donate, committing to give up an hour of their time to save and improve lives.

It came as part of the #BleedForEngland campaign which aimed to rally people to sign up to donate blood to help patients as well as support their own team during the world’s biggest rugby tournament.

NHS Blood and Transplant wanted to encourage 100,000 people to register as blood donors between England’s first warm-up game and Saturday’s World Cup Final and by the time the final whistle blew, 101,295 had signed up.

World Cup winners Jonny Wilkinson, Martin Johnson, Ben Kay, Jason Leonard and Maggie Alphonsi all backed the campaign.

It was also supported by international players and Union and League rugby clubs.

England’s early departure from the contest didn’t halt the campaign’s momentum with people continuing to sign up in their thousands.

NHS Blood and Transplant is now calling on the recruits as well as existing donors to book appointments to donate over the next few weeks to ensure patients get the blood they need during the holiday season.

The organisation relies on people to give up their time to donate to ensure it continually has enough stocks of the correct blood types to meet patient needs.

While many people think that blood is used mainly for accidents and emergencies, donated blood is vital for a wide variety of life-saving procedures.

Jon Latham, Assistant Director of Donor Services and Marketing at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “We’re delighted that more than 100,000 new donors have committed to save lives by donating blood and it’s great that so many people in Dorset signed up.

“We’d now like everybody who signed up to book their first appointment and commit to attending a session to save lives.”

To book an appointment visit blood.co.uk or call 0300 1232323, or use the mobile app available for Android, Windows and Apple Smartphone. Search ‘NHSGiveBlood’ in the app store.