Blood Donor Eligibility Criteria

Age:

• First Time Donors - 16 to 60 years of age.
• Existing Donors - Up to 71 years of age.

Weight:

• You must be 50 kg or over.

Health: 

• You must be in good health.
• You cannot donate if you have a cold, flu, sore throat, cold sore, stomach bug or any other infection.
• If you have recently had a tattoo or body piercing you cannot donate for 6 months from the date of the procedure. (See the Detailed Eligibility Criteria/FAQ's for more details under "Tattoo" or "Body Piercing".)
• If you have visited the dentist for a minor procedure you must wait 24 hours before donating; for major work wait a month.

Travel:

• You must not have lived in the United Kingdom, France or the Republic of Ireland between 1980 and 1996 for a cumulative 6 months or more.

Food:

• You must have eaten some food during the four hours prior to donation

Identification:

• You must bring appropriate identification with you each time you donate.
• Acceptable ID is a document or a combination of documents, which contains three (3) unique points of personal information. These can be: full name, photograph, date of birth, home address, signature, donor ID/registration number, workplace (work ID cards only) or school (school ID cards only).

More information on eligibility to donate: 

For detailed eligibility criteria and more information on whether you are eligible to donate blood please click here

For common reasons for Deferral please click here.