Animators donate time for important blood drive

Sound design company Father, production companies Strange Beast and BlinkInk, and a whole host of animators have combined creative forces for this campaign to encourage people to donate blood.

Or, rather, in this strange and uncertain time we all find ourselves in, to continue to donate blood.

The creation of this series of more than 15 short, animated spots stemmed from Father’s composer Freddie Webb, whose daughter has a medical condition that means she relies on blood transfusions to stay healthy, but, because of the coronavirus lockdown there has been a big drop in the number of blood donations. 

"When my daughter was admitted to hospital for an emergency blood transfusion last spring," explains Webb, "her life was saved. It was the first of many transfusions, which she has had every three weeks ever since. Her condition, Diamond Blackfan Anaemia, may be rare, but we are one family among many who rely on people giving blood to keep someone close to us alive.

Blood donations are vital to the ecosystem of the NHS – global pandemic or not.

"Every year, NHS Blood and Transplant collects two million voluntary blood donations, prepares them for use, and distributes them across UK hospitals to treat anything from chronic conditions like my daughter’s to cancers and all manner of emergencies. Blood donations, then, are vital to the ecosystem of the NHS – global pandemic or not. With a stretched health service and a society that's sensibly staying home (mostly), there is concern that blood donations will take a nosedive. While things are currently stable, we need to keep them that way and encourage people to donate throughout - and in spite of - the coronavirus crisis.

"This campaign with Strange Beast and BlinkInk was born out of the idea that by reframing blood donation – that is to say, asking a talented roster of animators and illustrators to depict their unique take on the cause – we could turn heads and get people to go to their nearest blood centre."