As part of the partnership, Trinity Mirror’s regional titles will publish human interest case studies of donors and survivors local to their area, as well as engaging staff and readers to raise vital funds.
Stories will appear in the Daily Record, Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo, Birmingham Mail, and many other Trinity Mirror titles this week and throughout the rest of the year.
Trinity Mirror's involvement is inspired by the work of former Huddersfield Examiner reporter Adrian Sudbury, who died from leukaemia in 2008.
Before his death Adrian spearheaded the charity’s ‘Register and Be A Lifesaver’ education programme, which has reached more than 100,000 students and resulted in more than 4,300 of those young people signing up as potential bone marrow donors.
The year-long partnership aims to raise funds and awareness of Anthony Nolan, which runs the UK bone marrow register. The blood cancer charity has been saving lives for four decades by matching people willing to donate their bone marrow to patients in desperate need of a transplant.
It all began in 1974. With her three-year-old son Anthony in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant, Shirley Nolan set up the world's first register to match selfless donors with people in need. Forty years on, the charity is saving more lives each year – and these remarkable stories will be told across Trinity Mirror’s titles in 2014, says Trinity Mirror.
Neil Benson, Editorial Director, Regionals, said: “Over the past ten years, our regional titles have worked in a co-ordinated way with many leading charity organisations, including the Prince's Trust, Childline and the NSPCC, but this is the first time a partnership of this type has spanned our regional and national titles.
“The human stories are truly inspiring, from the Nolan family themselves to donors, recipients, doctors, nurses and volunteer helpers right across the country. We're looking forward to producing a really compelling campaign that only our unique mix of titles and web sites can offer.”
Richard Davidson, Director of Communications and Marketing at Anthony Nolan, said: “Our identity as a charity is rich with poignant and inspiring stories, many of which have been told in Trinity Mirror’s national and regional titles over the past four decades.
“Working with Trinity Mirror today gives us a unique and powerful opportunity to tell our story to a combined audience of millions, enabling us to grow our lifesaving register and carry out world-class research into blood cancer at a crucial time in our history. By choosing to support Anthony Nolan in its 40th year, Trinity Mirror readers and staff are doing something amazing; they are helping save lives.”
To support, text MIRR99£5 or MIRR99£10 to 70070, or visit www.justgiving.com/Mirror-AnthonyNolan
