Afro hair and Beauty Live – Give blood NHS

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This year’s Afro Hair and Beauty Live show took place at the Design Museum in North London, and It was my first time attending. I spent about two hours of my bank holiday Monday afternoon taking it all in.  There was a variety of afro- Caribbean based hair care products and food available for purchase and a vast array of free samples. Amongst the variety of booths and pop up stalls, the main stage was the centre point of the event exhibiting the latest in afro hair and styles amidst various performances. Please note this event isn’t only for black women but also Black men too.

Some of the brands that were there included Africa’s Best, Palmers, Cantu and GiveBlood.co.uk, to name a few.

The NHS blood donation stall was one that especially caught my attention mainly because  I had attended an event earlier this year where Sickle- cell was the focal of conversation and brought my attention to the importance of donating blood within the black community. I was intrigued, not only did I want to know my blood type I also wanted to know if I could help. With the help of the great team , I found out my blood type through a quick prick test and also booked an appointment to Donate Blood.  The ladies who were working that day were super knowledgeable and friendly.

Blood Donation is vital especially within the black community  because blood.co.uk reports that 40,000 more black donors of all blood groups are needed to meet growing demand for better-matched blood and a special subtype of blood more common in black people. Sickle cell disease is a condition particularly common to people of African or Caribbean descent that causes abnormally-shaped red blood cells.

From what I’ve read online, the NHS sometimes have a limited amount of a specific type of blood.  People who benefit significantly from a blood donation are those who need blood transfusions for health reasons and sickle cell patients. Donating especially if you are a person of afro Caribbean background means You could essentially save someone’s Life.

You can find out your blood type once you’ve donated blood by registering at : https://my.blood.co.uk/Account/SignIn

In next week’s blog post, I will share about my experience giving blood and about my rare blood type.

I would definitely recommend attending Afro Hair and beauty live. With over 50 exhibitors, there was so much to see, and I literally didn’t make it round to everything, but I did Visit @TwistedSister where they were out goodie bags in Partnership with Treasurechest.

Till next week,

Lots of Love,

Sasha x