Southend-on-Sea Borough Council has teamed up with other famous ‘Ends’ across the country to highlight how people could give someone the chance of a new beginning by telling their family they want to be an organ donor.

The new national campaign, launched to mark Organ Donation Week, sees signs changing to read ‘Land’s Beginning’, ‘Preston North Beginning’ football club and ‘Southbeginning-on-sea’ with the aim of getting people talking about organ donation.

Every day across the UK, around three people who could have benefited from a transplant die because there aren’t enough organ donors. And currently in Essex*, while 95 people received a potentially lifesaving or transforming transplant last year, 150** are still on the waiting list and 11 sadly died before they received the organ they desperately needed.

Of the approximately half a million people who die each year across the UK, only around 1% (5,603) die in circumstances where their organs could be donated. With such small numbers of people dying in the right circumstances to become an organ donor and so many adults and children in need of a transplant, it is vital that no opportunity for someone to become a donor is missed.

However, NHS Blood and Transplant data also shows that around 4 out of ten families in the UK did not agree to donate a relative’s organs. When a family says no to donating, someone waiting for a transplant may miss out on their only opportunity for a transplant.

Many people believe that all you need to do to show you want to be a donor is to join the NHS Organ Donor Register. However, if you die in circumstances where you could become an organ donor your family would be approached by specialist nurses and asked to support your decision to donate. NHS Blood and Transplant figures show that only 47% of families agree to organ donation if they are unaware of their relative’s decision to be a donor. Yet almost 90% of families give their consent (or authorisation in Scotland) when the decision to be an organ donor is known.

Anthony Clarkson, Assistant Director for Organ Donation and Nursing at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Too many families faced with the possibility of donating a relative’s organs, find themselves having to make a decision without the comfort of knowing exactly what their relative would have wanted. This makes what is already an emotional and difficult time even harder. It is vital you tell your family about your organ donation decision: that knowledge will make it so much easier for them to support what you want.

Many donor families say that donation helps with their grief and they feel enormous pride, knowing that their relative went on to save lives after they died – giving others the chance of a new beginning. So please talk to your relatives and tell them that you want to donate should you be in a position to do so, and that you want them to support your decision to save lives after your death.”

Rob Tinlin, Chief Executive at Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting Organ Donation Week and we are proud to become Southbeginning-on-Sea to raise awareness of such an important cause. We hope our efforts will inspire people from Southend-on-Sea to turn an end into a beginning by encouraging them to start a conversation with their family today and sharing their organ donation decision.”

Start a conversation today and help turn an end into a beginning. Join the NHS Organ Donor Register and make sure you tell your friends and family your decision.

Visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23. Share your decision with your friends, using hashtag #YesIDonate

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