To be a donor you have to give what’s called ‘informed consent’. As stem cell donation is voluntary and not of direct benefit to the donor, a parent/guardian can’t give consent on behalf of a minor.

Someone in need of a transplant is most likely to find a match in a person with a similar genetic history. That often means someone from the same ethnic background.

People from minority ethnic backgrounds often have rarer tissue types which makes it harder to find matching donors. That means we need to recruit even more donors from minority ethnic backgrounds so they are overrepresented on the register.

This includes people from African, African-Caribbean, Asian, Chinese, Eastern European, Mediterranean and mixed race backgrounds.

Yes. Your sexuality won’t stop you joining our register. You’ll be subject to the same rules as everyone else. Find out more on our join the register page.

Young men aged 16–30 make up only 18% of our register but provide over half of all donations. We need more young men to sign up as they're underrepresented - even though hospitals are much more likely to choose them to donate.

We’re particularly keen to recruit more young men to our register, as they're more likely to be chosen to donate.

We also need more people from minority ethnic backgrounds to sign up to help give everyone an equal chance of finding a matching donor.

The first step to joining the register is filling in a form and then doing a cheeky swab. If you apply online we can send you a swab pack in the post, or you can come along to one of our recruitment events in your local area. You then stay on the register until you’re 61, and we’ll be in touch if you’re ever a potentially lifesaving match for someone.

If you have any questions further questions please email donor.support@anthonynolan.org

To join our register, you have to be between 16 and 30 and in good health. You’ll stay on our register until you’re 61.

You need to be fully committed to donating your blood stem cells or bone marrow if you come up as a match.

Since the launch of our register in 1974, we have made over 20,000 stem cell transplants possible.

However, even with over half a million people on the register, we urgently need to increase the size and diversity of potential donors. One day, we hope to help everyone who needs a lifesaving transplant.

People aged 16–30 can join our register. Each time someone needs a donor, we look through our database for a match.

We have over 800,000 people on the register at the moment.

A stem cell transplant can cure or improve the outcome for someone with blood cancer or blood disorder. In short, it can save their life.

When a person has a blood cancer or blood disorder, their blood cells have stopped working in their normal way. That means they can’t do vital things like fight infection or carry oxygen.

A transplant of blood stem cells from a healthy person can replace and repair these damaged cells – and hopefully cure their disease.

Blood stem cells are new, primitive blood cells made in the bone marrow, found in the centre of our large bones.

• You can find out more about how transplants work in The Science Behind Our Work section