Run a recruitment event

Anyone aged between 16 and 30 can join the Anthony Nolan register, as long as they are in good health. So these are the people we recruit at recruitment events.

They must be 16 or older because you have to give what’s called ‘informed consent’ to be a stem cell donor. As stem cell donation is voluntary and not of direct benefit to the donor, a parent/guardian cannot give consent on behalf of a minor.

The reason they need to be aged under 30 is because young people are most likely to be chosen to donate as they are less likely to have long-term health problems which might delay or prevent donation.

We answer further questions about Anthony Nolan's donor register and lifesaving work in our FAQs.

No two recruitment drives are the same. Generally speaking, most recruitment drives are medium-sized. They usually attract upwards of 50 people, and take around six weeks to organise.

Organisers usually hold them at a local venue where there’s access to a large number of young people, for instance: colleges, universities or sports clubs. Events normally last for around four hours at the weekend or on a weekday evening, to enable as many people as possible to go along.

To organise an event, you’ll need a committee of at least 2-5 people, plus 5-20 volunteers on the day. Your committee could include the following, but it’s always good to have extra people to help out and take on some of the work:

• A project lead to take charge of the whole event. This might be a family member or friend of the person the event is being held in honour of.
• A venue officer in charge of finding a venue and completing all the necessary paperwork.
• A press officer, responsible for contacting and working with the local press to publicise the event.
• An internet and social media officer in charge of advertising the event on Facebook and Twitter.
• A volunteer officer, responsible for finding people to help at the event and training them up.
• A promotion and publicity officer, in charge of ordering promotional materials and identifying local events and venues to promote the drive.
• A fundraising officer, responsible for organising raising money at the event (if you plan to do this).

That would be great! Raising funds to continue our vital work is crucial – it costs us £40 to put each potential lifesaver on to our register.

You could collect donations at the entrance, for example, you could sell cakes or hold raffles or tombolas.

We’re more than happy to supply electronic promotional materials like poster designs and templates – but as a general rule we can’t cover any other expenses.

Fantastic! Please email our Register Development team on registerdevelopment@anthonynolan.org and we’ll be in touch to discuss the details with you.