All who would like to do some good are welcome at donor tents on Freedom Square, Tallinn!

People living in Tallinn are welcome to donate blood at the donor tents of the North Estonia Medical Centre’s Blood Centre, set up on Freedom Square, on 12 June from 12.00 to 18.00 and on 13 June from 11.00 to 17.00, helping those in need reach their next birthday. To contribute to a cheerful, festive atmosphere, the Police and Border Guard Orchestra will be performing on 12 June at 11.00 and the Defence Forces Orchestra on 13 June at 10.00.

Ülo Lomp, the Blood Centre’s development director and initiator of the donor tents project, says: “The 11th summer lies ahead for the donor tents programme! “This number speaks for itself, proving that we have launched a great initiative that is well-received by donors and has turned into a nice tradition. The donor tents programme has increased the visibility of donorship. In other words, it has brought the Blood Center closer to the people. This is very important for attracting young people who do not have the experience of giving blood yet, but we are also happy to see that regular donors as well have taken to visiting our tents.” He adds: “The opportunity to be a guardian of the state, so to speak, is clearly a valuable aspect. Our donor tents programme brings together a variety of institutions that are directly or indirectly concerned with and committed to improving people’s wellbeing and health.” According to Ülo Lomp, the slogan ‘The Donor Is Also a Guardian of the State’ conveys the central idea of the entire campaign, namely that giving blood is the easiest way to contribute to ensuring the safety of your country: “People are in need of protection and help not only during war and crisis situations, but in hospitals in Estonia, as well. Donated blood helps save tens of lives each day at our hospitals.”

In addition to brass band music, Dona the Pelican, the Blood Centre’s mascot, helps keep the mood up in donor tents and, what is more, exciting prize draws are held. The Blood Centre’s good friends from PetCity veterinary clinic will speak about donation programmes for pets and provide information on dog and cat blood types.

The opening event of the tour took place in Pärnu where on 23 and 24 May our cheerful-looking yellow tents were visited by 246 locals, 191 of whom  donated blood and 40 were first-timers.  After Tallinn, the tour will continue in Rakvere, Keila, Haapsalu, Paide, Viljandi and Rapla, and the last event will be held on 13 and 14 September in Tartu.

While 11 years ago, in 2007, a total of 1,167 people donated 525 litres of blood, in 2016 – which also marked 10 years of donor tents – the tents of blood centres of North Estonia Medical Centre, Tartu University Clinic and Pärnu Hospital collected more than 1,430 litres of blood from 3,182 donors. 564 first-times were added to the friendly donor community.