Council bleeds for national cause

Townsville City Council employees are rolling up their sleeves to compete against almost 300 councils from around the country in Lifeblood’s Local Government Blood Drive.

Acting CEO, Joe McCabe said as one of the city’s largest employers, Council staff could make a significant dent in the demand for local plasma donations. Plasma is the yellow liquid part of blood and it can be used in 18 life-giving ways.

“Council is used to rolling up our sleeves to get the jobs done around the city, but over the next few months we’re encouraging our team members to roll up their sleeves as part of the Local Government Blood Drive,” Mr McCabe said.

“During winter, Lifeblood often sees a drop in donations due to the cold and flu season, but the need for blood and blood products never stops. One donation is needed every 18 seconds in Australia.

“While Townsville is a plasma donor centre, people don’t realise you can actually donate plasma as often as every two weeks, whereas blood is every 12 weeks.”

Mr McCabe said this year he was hoping Council could break into the top ten local Governments from around Australia, after Townsville City Council placed 29th out of 270 Councils in 2023.

“While we’re a competitive Council, what we’re really hoping to do is rally the troops and create a bit of a culture around donating plasma here in Townsville,” he said.

“The demand for plasma is at a record high, with Australia now collecting more plasma than blood donations, and I believe we have a real opportunity to do our part as a local government to help patients in need.

“I’d encourage our other large local organisations to get involved in donating as well, particularly around this time of year when donor chairs need filling.”

Councillor Brodie Phillips said he would be rolling up his sleeve alongside Council employees in the months ahead.

“The Local Government Blood Drive runs through to the end of September, and I’m really looking forward to getting back into donating to be a part of the cause,” Cr Phillips said.

“The fact you can give plasma six times in the same period as giving blood once is unreal, and I’ve already started looking at my calendar to plan out future donations.

“It’s terrific Council is backing such a great cause. I’m also hoping we can show our northern cousins in Cairns Regional Council how it’s done.”

Lifeblood’s Gwendolyne Camaret said she was excited to see how many donations Council would rack up between now and 30 September, and encouraged the local community to also get behind the great cause.

“We have recently opened our new centrally located donor centre at Domain Central and we’d love to see more locals roll up their sleeves to donate plasma,” Gwendolyne said.

“Donating plasma is easy to do and it is rewarding. With our new donor centre, we are hoping to make it more convenient and easier for people to get involved.

“You can call 13 14 95, jump on our website lifeblood.com.au or download our app to make your bookings. You can also keep tabs on how many donations you've made and access some basic health stats taken at the time of your donation (blood pressure and haemoglobin). The app can also double as your donor card.”

Lifeblood’s Townsville Donor Centre is located at Tenancy 120, 103-141 Duckworth St (Domain Central) and open Monday – Saturday.

Take the quiz to find out your eligibility.