Give Blood, Save Lives – Atif Hussain, Recruitment Consultant and Volunteer Blood Drive Coordinator

Livingston James Group gives all employees two CSR days a year to allow them to get involved with charities or organisations of their choice on a voluntary basis.  Here Hamilton Forth’s Atif Hussain shares his experiences as a Volunteer Blood Drive Coordinator with the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society and his latest role in their social media campaign to encourage more blood donors.

Give blood, save lives. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Less than 5% of the eligible Scottish population currently donates blood and of those 5% a vast majority of them are over the age of 40. The SNBTS continue to work tirelessly to encourage more people to donate blood, often targeting young donors as well as focussing on donors from BAME communities. They partner with many external organisations to help them attract more donors.

In 2013, Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society, a faith based organisation, brought to Scotland a global initiative called the Imam Hussain Blood Donation Campaign which aims to raise awareness and encourage people to donate blood. I donated for the first time in 2013 during the launch of this campaign in Scotland. As I began to learn more about blood donation, I realised just how important it is to raise awareness and encourage others to deal with the shortage of blood. Just one donation can save at least up to three lives. Just think about that. Fast forward eight years and I am now a regular blood donor and take every opportunity to encourage others to donate blood.

I have been working as a blood drive coordinator for the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society and have recently been involved in launching various social media campaigns with the aim of encouraging more people to take up blood donation. I am proud to work for an organisation, Hamilton Forth, that not only recognises the importance of CSR initiatives but empowers their employees to fulfil their passions by giving them two days paid leave each year to focus on CSR activities. The two days leave was immensely helpful for me to work in partnership with the SNBTS to put together two separate campaigns.

The first campaign brings together key figures across the cultural, social, political, and religious spectra with a unified message to donate blood and serve humanity. The second campaign focuses on documenting a blood donor’s journey, showing you behind the scenes footage of what a blood donation session involves. I am hopeful that these social media campaigns will help us raise awareness, attract some new donors as well as re-engaging with some lapsed donors. I am grateful to everyone who has played their part in putting together these campaigns which will ultimately help us save lives.

To find out more about the issues raised in this article or to discuss careers at Livingston James Group, contact [email protected]