[matt232]

The Summer Blood Challenge for 2004/05 begins this Wednesday, December 1.

This year marks the 26th Challenge. Last year was a fantastic effort, and
this year, we have
50 organisations (including 8 new organisations) participating. Hopefully
with this year's Challenge we will break the 5,000 donations mark for the
first time.

This year's Challenge will be launched with a small media event this Friday, a Tug-of-War at Federation Square. It is envisaged that we will get ongoing coverage for the Challenge throughout the summer.

As coordinators for your group, you will have received marketing collateral
and briefing documents. To start you on your way with booking appointments, here is some helpful information:

Booking Appointments
There are a few ways to book an appointment. To organise a personal
appointment, please contact 13 14 95.

However, if you want to make an event of your donation, and attend with your workmates, colleagues or clubmates, you can request a group booking. For bookings of four of more, please contact the numbers below to organise group bookings for the following venues:

Southbank Blood Centre - 03 9694 0217
Bourke Street Donor Centre - 03 9694 0308
Northern Donor Centre (Bundoora) - 03 9694 0308
Frankston Donor Centre - 03 9694 0265
Ringwood Donor Centre - 03 9694 0217
Geelong Donor Centre - 03 9694 0265

-Regional Areas
As regional areas have differing schedules, and are often strongly booked in advance, it can be difficult to book appointments in a block. Coordinators based in regional areas please note that many sites manage their own booking systems on site, and they will have to organise group booking directly with the centres.

Please call me on (03) 9694 0355 to discuss if you have any questions.

Where to Donate:
Locations of all Victorian Donor Centres, and regional mobile visit
frequencies can be found at:
http://www.donateblood.com.au/Donor/...singleregi on

Locations of Tasmanian Donor Centres can be found here:
http://www.donateblood.com.au/Donor/...singlereg ion

Also, please find attached the itinerary for our Mobile Blood Service visits
in December. I will circulate the itineraries for January and February once
they have been finalised. Please note the itinerary is available via this
link:
http://www.donateblood.com.au/Donor/...12&year =2004


Who can donate:
People who,
* Are feeling fit and healthy and have enough iron in their diet
* Are between 16 and 70 years of age and can show proof of identity
* Have had their parents sign consent on a ‘New Donor Form’ if they are under 18 years of age
* Weigh over 45 kg
* Have eaten recently and drunk plenty of fluids (ideally water or juice)

What to bring to Donate:
To satisfy personal ID requirements when donating, donors must provide
documentation containing 3 unique pieces of personal information. A valid
driver licence is sufficient.

Examples of ID which may be suitable include:
Valid Driver’s Licence (preferred)
Valid Passport (in English)
The following may be used in combinations that meet the
requirements of 3 unique pieces of personal information.
Credit Card
ATM Card
Student Card
Seniors Card
Employee ID Card
Recent household bill (eg: Electricity, Gas, etc.)

Get in early!
As the Summer Blood Challenge runs for a 90-day period, donors who donate on or before December 13 will be eligible to donate twice during the period of Challenge.

Stay Tuned:
I will be sending email updates for the Challenge every fortnight, to keep
you informed of all events relevant to the Challenge. If you need anything, or have any questions, comments or suggestions, please give me call on 03 9694 0355.

The above is obvously for Victoria but I believe the other states have thier own Summer Blood Challenge as well.

I'm booked in at Southbank for 9am tomorrow morning. Exactly 10 weeks (minimum period between donations) after my first donation.

[matt232]

*bump*

[matt232]

G'day All.

Please pass this message on to any egroups, websites, newsletters or mags
you may have access to.

The 26th annual Motorcycle Riders' Association Blood Challenge in Victoria
ends on Monday, February 28, 2005. If you have not yet given blood in this
Challenge please book in NOW! Ring 13 14 95.

There are so many good reasons to donate blood that you already know at
least some of them so, in the interest of brevity, I won't give you any.
Just do it.

If you live in the country you'd better get in fast. In another cunning PR
stunt the ARCBS is shutting down 21 of 33 blood banks in rural areas. It's
also starting up a new management system before the end of this summer's
Challenge so the number of donors they can handle may drop. Brilliant! More
on those later.

There are more than 50 organisations competing this year. The top 10 are:

1. Combined Firefighters - 408.
2. Scouts - 167.
3. Combined Motorcycle & Scooter Riders - 140.
4. Police - 124.
5. Dept. Human Services - 112.
6. Bicycle Vic. - 96.
7. Bendigo Bank - 83.
8. ANZ - 76.
9. Dept. Defence - 64.
10. The Freemasons - 61.

Damien Codognotto OAM
MRA Life Member.
MRA BLOOD CHALLENGE 26 Co-ordinator.
www.nmcins.com.au

Come on you lot the Scouts and Firefighters are beating us......its our bloody trophy anyway we should have this in the bag!!!

[Bacchus]

If I was there, I'd pitch in matt. Hmmm...