What is the role of the BBMDA?

The British Bone Marrow Donor Appeal (BBMDA) was founded in 1987 to support the development of a computerised Registry of HLA (ABCDR) tissue-types of potential bone marrow donors for persons suffering from leukaemia and other bone marrow related diseases.

The BBMDA is a registered charity (registration number:296267) and its primary function is to fund two Registries: the British Bone Marrow Registry with more than 250,000 drawn from England and Northern Ireland, and the Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Registry at Pontyclun, near Cardiff with 40,000 donors. The combined British Bone Marrow Donor Registry of England, Wales and Northern Ireland is the sixth largest in the world.

In the eighteen years since it was founded, the British Bone Marrow Donor Appeal has raised and donated more than £4 million to the National Blood Services in England and Wales to create Registries totalling 290,000 donors.
From among these donors there have been life-saving transplants for more than 2000 patients suffering from leukaemia and bone-marrow related diseases.

After raising millions of pounds towards building a registry of bone marrow donors, the British Bone Marrow Donor Appeal is now winding down and distributing the funds it has left now that the Government has taken on the charity’s job.  The blood services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have now shared in a £1 million donation from a charity to continue its work in saving the lives of leukaemia victims.

Who organises the BBMDA?

The BBMDA is run by a board of four trustees: Malcolm Thomas and John Humphries, the founders who had children needing bone marrow transplants, and they were subsequently joined by Caroline Compton, Judith Hurford and John Morgan.

The BBMDA is fortunate, too, in having Brian May as its patron.