Thursday 6th May 2010 saw the presentation of the strategy to raise awareness of voluntary blood donation among young people, making use of new technology and social networks in a model which it is hoped will be exported to the rest of the world, taking advantage of Barcelona being the world centre for blood donation this year.

As well as promoting regular, ongoing donation, the initiative seeks to set up a community of donors ready to give blood if reserves fall below optimum levels.

Meeting of young people at Castellet

The strategy to use social networks and digital activism among young people to promote giving blood was presented at Castellet castle, the headquarters of the Abertis Foundation, during a symposium on awareness-raising among young people which was attended by students from the Red Cross university school, the Director-General of health resources at the Catalan government’s health department, David Elvira, the vice-president of the Red Cross in Catalonia, Josep Quitet, the mayor of Castellet, Miquel Delgado, and the president of the Catalan blood donors’ federation, Marc Ibars.

The meeting also featured a round-table debate on “Young people today: blood donation and solidarity” with the participation of Josep Garcia on behalf of the Catalan youth agency of the government of Catalonia, Yolanda Gargallo, from the Red Cross youth section, and Vanessa Pleguezuelos, responsible for promoting the Catalan blood and tissue bank in the education system. The debate was chaired by the moderator of the event, Oscar Velasco, director of communication at the Catalan Red Cross.

www.barcelonatesang.org

The web page www.barcelonatesang.org lays out the set of activities in the area of digital activism aiming to encourage giving blood, especially among young people. A highlight among the tools to be found there is the page Jo tinc sang  on the Facebook social network (www.facebook.es/jotincsang) which, as well as calling on people’s own pride and character, providing information about leisure activities and donor points by geographical area and encouraging relations between people, gets members to sign up as a blood reserve for when the blood and tissue bank launches an appeal on the Facebook Wall. Activities are also organised through Twitter, and “full-blooded” activities are presented in the digital magazine to be found on the same page.

The scheme aims to make real, community use of new technology and existing social networks to benefit users, establishing who is compatible in the blood and tissue bank, to appeal to donors and to raise awareness of giving blood.

The Donor 2.0 profile is a young person who may or may not be a donor but is fully integrated in the 21st century, who socialises online using different media including the web, social networks, mobile phones and PDA’s. It also includes people who, for whatever reason, cannot be donors but want to give their support to voluntary blood donation.

The Abertis Foundation is providing its headquarters, Castellet castle, as part of its commitment to cooperate with different stakeholders in the community, in this case to give its support to the Catalan government’s department of health on World Blood Donor Day.