We’ll only ask you to donate if you have a similar tissue type to someone in desperate need of a transplant. Most people on our register never donate.

Once you are on the register you have a 1 in 800 chance of being asked to donate in the next five years. 

However, it is worth knowing that your chance of being chosen to donate depends on your age and sex. A young man aged 16–30 has a 1 in 200 chance of being chosen to donate in the next five years. 

You should be open to considering both methods of donation but do not have to agree to definitely donate via both methods when you join the register.
The options of donation will be discussed with them further if you come up as a potential match with a patient.

Simply send your name and date of birth to our team so they can check for you. Email register.support@anthonynolan.org.

No. You only need to be on one register as every time a patient needs a transplant, their hospital will contact Anthony Nolan and we will search all the potential donors in the UK and around the world to find a match.

People from minority ethnic backgrounds are more likely to have unique tissue types (the particular collection of HLA genes used for matching patients and donors for transplant), and this means it can be harder to find fully matched unrelated donors for them. 

So the more potential lifesavers from minority ethnic backgrounds there are on the stem cell register, the better the chances patients from minority ethnic backgrounds have of finding their lifesaving match.  

Ready to make a difference? Join today

Of course! You can join the register if you're taking PrEP. But if you're asked to donate between now and when you turn 61, then you might not be able to donate if you're still taking PrEP or took it in the months leading up to our request. This is because PrEP interferes with the testing process that all potential donors go through.

Of course! Your sexuality won’t stop you joining our register. You’ll be subject to the same rules and health checks as everyone else. Join today!

Young men are far more likely to be chosen to donate by transplant centres and provide more than half of all donations. Unfortunately, they only make up 18% of our register. There’s therefore an urgent need for more to sign up. Will you? Join now! 

Legally, you can only give ‘informed consent’ to join when you’re over 16. 

A stem cell donation is voluntary and wouldn’t directly benefit you, so your parent/guardian can’t give consent on your behalf. 

Our upper age limit is 30 because our research has shown that stem cell transplants work better if the donor is younger so we focus our limited funds on recruiting donors aged 30 and under

Ready to register? Join now! Once you're on it, you could be asked to donate until you turn 61.

Aged 31+?

Yes, it is. We know that some charitable trusts and funders prefer to know their donation will support a specific project or aspect of Anthony Nolan’s work.

We have a large number of projects and programmes in need of support.