Sixfields to host a special recruitment event
Northampton Town Football Club are calling for new bone marrow donors to sign up to the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register when they host a special recruitment event at their stadium on Thursday 20th September.
The Cobblers and Anthony Nolan are working together to support local Kettering resident Claire Evans, whose father has been diagnosed with leukaemia and needs an urgent bone marrow transplant to save his life.
Cobblers midfielder Ben Harding says, “I can’t imagine what it must be like to be told that you have blood cancer and you need a bone marrow transplant to save your life – but that you can only have that transplant if Anthony Nolan can find you a matching bone marrow donor. It’s simple: if more people join the register, Anthony Nolan can provide more matches and save more lives.”
Jenner Mackay-James, regional recruitment manager for Anthony Nolan, adds, “There are over 450,000 donors on the Anthony Nolan register, but we can still only find matches for around half the people who come to us in need. We particularly want young men aged 18-30 to sign up as they are the most likely to be chosen to donate, so the Northampton Town FC fans are the perfect target!”
The Cobblers have supported Anthony Nolan since “Matt’s Match”, a campaign to find a bone marrow donor for 15-year-old local boy Matt Herbert, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2009. The Cobblers held a similar recruitment drive as part of the campaign, which saw over 1,000 new donors sign up to the Anthony Nolan register.
Jenner Mackay-James adds, “We were so impressed by the fantastic level of support we received from Northampton Town FC during the “Matt’s Match” campaign, and I’m hoping that we’ll get a similar response this time around. If anyone wants to join the register but can’t make the event itself, they can sign up online at www.anthonynolan.org – it only takes ten minutes.”
The recruitment event will take place in the restaurant at Sixfields Stadium on Thursday 20th September from 5pm-8pm. Anyone wishing to join the register will simply need to fill in a short application form and provide a small saliva sample. Please visit www.anthonynolan.org for more information.