Ray has been giving blood since the 1960s

I started donating blood in the mid 1960s. I was then part of a group employed at the Addington Railway Workshops, where we had two “blood bank” days each month, in which we were given two hours off with full pay, always on a Thursday afternoon. The trick was to sneak out through a hole in the fence on the Wednesday before blood bank day and give our blood donation, thus allowing us to go straight home at 2.30 on blood bank day. Each donation day, we all put in half a crown each and the person with the highest iron count took the prize. Over the years I have been on the Cell Panel and also on the R2 R2 programme. There was a period of 10 years that I couldn’t come to town to donate, as I was managing a deer farm a way back in the high country. Over the years I have successfully convinced both friends and family members to register and donate. Many thanks once again, Ray Edwards.