Donor recruitment event FAQs

Joining the register is quick, easy and free. There are three ways to join the register:  

In-person events: People scan a QR code on the front of a swab wallet which takes them to an application form. They use the three swabs provided to swab their cheeks, place them in the wallet and hand them back to the volunteers running the event.   

Letterbox Lifesavers: Each person takes a swab wallet and a freepost envelope, scans the QR code and completes the application form. Then they post back their own completed swabs in the wallet. 

Online: People follow our Join the Register link and complete the application form. We post them their swabs, wallet and freepost envelope. They complete their swabs and post them back to us.   

We need at least two weeks’ notice to get an event kit or Letterbox Lifesavers kit out to you. Recruitment events work best when there is advance promotion so do allow plenty of time for this. 

Anyone who recruits donors at a recruitment stand needs to have completed a one-hour virtual training session and some additional reading. We have a small team of community volunteers who can run recruitment events but we know recruitment works best when a friendly face is involved! 

• A good location 

• Lots of people aged 16 to30  

• Advance promotion  

• Good mobile phone signal/wifi  

• Trained volunteers 

• A table and chairs  

• If it’s an in-person event, the crate containing the event kit will be delivered by our couriers to the venue (or a volunteers home) two days in advance, and will have everything you need for the event. It will need to be stored somewhere secure until its collected - usually the next working day after an event - as it will contain the applicants swab samples. There is no charge involved – all events are free. But we do ask that you aim to sign up a minimum of 30 people at an in-person events.

It’s around an hour long and done virtually. It covers what potential donors need to know before they join, the eligibility criteria, and how to run an event.  

Anthony Nolan is regulated by the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) and we are required to provide training for anyone involved in donor recruitment.

This can vary by location and volunteer availability. A recruitment stand in an office may work best when it’s there for a couple of hours over lunch time. A stand that is part of a wider event like a festival, may work better if it’s there for the whole duration of an event.  

For in-person recruitment events, people need to sign up on the day, at the recruitment stand. The QR codes on the swab wallets, that take people to the application form, will only stay live for the day of the event. For Letterbox Lifesavers, the QR codes are live for seven days, so people can collect a swab wallet and return envelope, complete the form and then post back their swabs. 

There are a range of volunteering options at Anthony Nolan. We have a team of community volunteers, based across the UK who help us at recruitment events and do presentations in schools, colleges, and other settings. If you have some spare time and could help us save lives in this way, please visit our volunteering pages.

You can use our resources to raise awareness in lots of ways, sharing on social media, arranging to do a talk at work, and if you get in touch with us, we can send you leaflets too. You could also think about fundraising, which is another great way to support us. 

This is not something that can happen at a donor recruitment event. It's a criminal offence under section 32 of the Human Tissue Act 2004 to offer, give or receive a reward for the supply of cells, and to publish any such offer or incentive of a reward. Anthony Nolan is regulated by the Human Tissue Authority, who are responsible for enforcing the Human Tissue Act. We are also accredited by World Marrow Donor Association, an international accreditation body for donor registries and cord blood banks, their standards are clear that donors must not be paid for their donation. 

Absolutely! It costs Anthony Nolan £40 to get someone joined up to the register, so it’s amazing if you can raise funds to help cover this.  You can do both at once, for example a donor recruitment event stand with a bake sale at the same time, or you could have a bucket and QR code for donations. There are lots of ideas on our fundraising pages. 

If someone changes their mind halfway through an application, take a photo of the front and back of the wallet and send it to your Anthony Nolan contact. The wallet they have scanned needs to be torn up and thrown away. People can leave the register at any point if they choose to, but we need to recruit donors who, all being well, will stay on the register until their 61^st birthday and will keep us updated with current contact details. If people aren’t certain about joining, it’s best they think about it until they’re sure.  

We don’t expect volunteers to know this in depth. There is a QR code as a part of the event kit that people can scan to look up health and lifestyle questions.  

It’s great if you can do some research into Anthony Nolan, and talk generally  about our work but we don’t expect you to be an expert! Signpost people to our website FAQs, or suggest they contact our Register Support team.   

We will only contact the secondary contact if someone comes up as a match and we are unable to contact them directly. Most applicants will put a parent, family member or friend - it just needs to be someone they are likely to stay in contact with.