Pinxton residents Keith and Kay Sudbury have won the Shirley Nolan Award for Special Recognition at the Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards 2013. They collected their award on Monday 4th November in the House of Commons.
Keith and Kay were nominated for their dedication to the Register and Be a Lifesaver (R&Be) education programme, which educates sixth form students about the importance of blood, organ, and bone marrow donation. R&Be now operates in 480 schools around the country and has reached almost 100,000 students.
Keith says, 'Our son Adrian had a very complicated form of Leukaemia and a bone marrow transplant was his only chance of survival. Anthony Nolan found a match from a 30 year old German woman who kindly donated her stem cells. We are eternally grateful of this and as a result, we had a wonderful extra year with Adrian.'
'Kay and I are very proud to have been awarded the Shirley Nolan Award for Special Recognition. We could only be here today because of the passion and commitment of all the Register & Be a Lifesaver volunteers, who give inspirational awareness raising Presentations to 16-18 year old Students, 'busting the myths' about donation.'
'In accepting this award, because of a wish that Adrian had 5 years ago and which Kay and I have continued, this is also in recognition of all of our wonderful volunteers, many of whom have become close friends.'
The award is named after Shirley Nolan, who founded the world’s first ever bone marrow donor register in 1974.
Henny Braund, Chief Executive at Anthony Nolan, says, 'Adrian was a phenomenal young man with a strong vision to educate young people about donation. Keith and Kay have continued Adrian’s legacy and have been instrumental in the growth and impact of Register and Be a Lifesaver. So many people with blood cancer will find a lifesaving bone marrow donor because of Keith and Kay’s tireless campaigning and we are delighted that they have won this award.'