Who Can Donate

Between what ages can I donate?

The ages that you can give blood are between seventeen and fifty-nine. Although you can give blood on your sixtieth birthday. Regular donors though can give up to the age of seventy.

Am I allowed to give blood more than once?

You're allowed to give blood more than once. You're allowed to give blood three times a year, which works out approximately every 16 weeks. You will be told when your next time to donate will be, you will be informed by a letter.

How often can I give blood?

You can give blood three times a year, which works out to approximately every sixteen weeks. You will be informed by letter, by our team, who will let you know when it's your time to give blood again.

Can I give blood if I am on medication?

If you're on medication, there are certain medications that will stop you giving blood, and that will make you ineligible, at that time. So take a look at our website, www.blood.co.uk, or perhaps give our national hotline a call on 08457 711 711. You can take some tests to see whether that medication is preventing you to give blood, or go along to a session and speak to the nurse. But do definitely tell the nurse if you are about to give a donation that you are on medication, because it may affect the safety of your blood to go into another patient.

Can I give blood if I have a tattoo or piercing?

If you've had a tattoo within the last six months, unfortunately, you are not allowed to give blood. If you've had a piercing within the last six months, there are also certain conditions that the piercer would have to of abided by in order to give blood. So please do tell the nurse if you have had a piercing so that they can make sure that the conditions have been abided by and that your blood is safe to be used. You can also find some information on this on our website which is www.blood.co.uk or give our national helpline a call 084 5771 1711.

Can I give blood if I am pregnant?

You're not allowed to give blood if you are pregnant. The usual rule is that you are not allowed to give blood for the term of the pregnancy plus the term of the pregnancy after. Say you are pregnant for 8½ months, you are not allowed to give blood for 8½ months after or you tend to find is when women have babies there are other things more important after, after having the baby. And blood donation occasionally drops off their priority list. We do try to inform new mothers once their baby has reached that pregnancy term age that they are able to give blood again, and try to encourage them to come back into the blood donating register.

Can I give blood if I have been travelling abroad?

There are certain countries that prevent you from giving blood if you have visited them within six months. Do definitely find out from the nurse whether this is the case. You can also have a look on our website for this information, which is www.blood.co.uk. What we do recommend is to give blood before you plan to go on holiday, because during the summer period what we tend to find is that there is a bit of a dip in blood donations due to the amount of people who are jetting away on their exotic holidays. We do try to recommend that people do give blood before they go, so as not to miss that blood donating session that they plan to do all along.

Can I give blood if I am vegetarian?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a vegetarian that's going to prevent you from giving blood. The only thing that might make a bit of difference is that normally your iron levels will come back up to their normal level within two weeks. If you're a vegetarian, this may take a bit longer. There's absolutely no health risk to prevent you if you're a vegetarian.

What may prevent me from giving blood?

There are a few things to prevent you from giving blood, such as having a tattoo within the last six months, being on certain medications, or being pregnant. These factors might affect your eligibility to give blood. Please do check this out on our website, where you can go through some tests to find out, which is www.blood.co.uk, or give our national help line a call. It's 08457 711 711.

Is there a weight limit for blood donation?

There is a weight limit, which is 7 stone 12 pounds or 50 kilograms. You have to weigh at least this to be able to give blood. There is not a top weight limit but we do recommend that you are able to get on and off the donating bed without the assistance of the donate care.

What could make me permanently ineligible to give blood?

Things like having HIV would make you permanently ineligible to give blood. To find out more information on this go to our website which is www.blood.co.uk or give our national help line a call on 0845 7 711 711. You are also not allowed to give blood if you have received blood in the past.