Uniting world communities in the UK to fight leukaemia

ACLT (African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust)
is a leading charity dedicated to raising awareness of the severe shortage of donors on the UK blood and bone marrow registers. As bone marrow donor registries are shared internationally, our work is truly global. We promote, educate and recruit lifesavers, particularly people from Black, Asian, Mixed race and minority ethnic communities who are under-represented on all donor registries.

You can help us fight leukaemia

ACLT was cofounded in 1996 by Beverley De-Gale and Orin Lewis, the parents of former leukaemia sufferer Daniel De-Gale. Daniel desperately needed a matched bone marrow transplant from a stranger to help save his life. Daniel and his family witnessed the power of the community spirit when tens of thousands registered as donors to help Daniel and others like him back to health. Daniel won his battle with leukaemia due to the acts of kindness of one special bone marrow donor and many other strangers who give blood to help people with life-threatening conditions.

Finding a match to save lives
Inspired by the plight of Daniel and others, ACLT charity was established to provide valuable support to people with blood cancers who rely on regular blood transfusions or face the incredible challenge of a worldwide search for a racially-matched bone marrow donor. Around 70% of patients need bone marrow from a stranger but due to greater genetic diversity and low donor registrations, the odds of finding a match for Black, Mixed race and Asian patients could be around one in 100,000 or worse.

Our challenge to find lifesavers. Over 28,500 children and adults every year face the devastating news that they have a blood cancer such as leukaemia. The NHS needs 7,000 units of blood daily to supply hospitals across England and North Wales. Blood groups vary by ethnicity: 20% of the black African and Caribbean population are blood group B and only 9% of western Europeans share this group. However, less than 1% of UK blood donors are Black or Mixed race.

Just 14 years ago, only 550 Black people had ever joined the bone marrow register. Through targeted donor appeals and registration drives the ACLT has helped boost numbers to around 34,000 and found 30 matching donors.

ACLT Website| | Register Now