From Monday, people living in Viru County can donate blood at the central square of Rakvere

People living in Viru County are welcome to donate blood at the donor tents of the North Estonia Medical Centre’s Blood Centre, set up on the beautiful central square of Rakvere, on 19 June from 12.00 to 18.00 and on 20 and 21 June from 11.00 to 17.00. In donor tents, Dona the Pelican, the Blood Centre’s mascot, helps keep the mood up and, what is more, exciting prize draws are held.

According to Ülo Lomp, the Blood Centre’s development director and initiator of the donor tents project, the 11th summer of the donor tents programme is in full swing. “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,” Lomp explains.

Lomp says that blood donation and the donor tents programme are very popular in Viru County: “As the saying goes, Viru people have strong blood and local people have proved this time and again.” Last year, over six days, 932 people visited donor tents, 779 of whom were able to give blood. Also, 101 first-time donors showed up. 350 litres of valuable blood were collected. “I believe that this year’s tour in Rakvere will be at least as successful,” says Lomp optimistically.

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. On 12 and 13 June, the tour continued in Tallinn where a total of 255 people showed up, 199 of whom were able to give blood. There, 49 first-time donors joined the friendly donor community and the total yield was 90 litres of valuable blood. After Rakvere, the tour will continue in Keila, Haapsalu, Paide, Viljandi and Rapla, and the last event will be held on 13 and 14 September in Tartu. We will be back in Rakvere from 14 to 16 August.

The donor tents project is made possible through cooperation with the Rescue Board, the Defence Forces, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Police and Border Guard, county and city governments, the Road Administration, the Defence Forces recruitment centre, the National Defence College, the Defence League and the Estonian Red Cross.

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