A campaign to address the critical shortage of black, Asian, mixed race and minority ethnic organ donors has raised awareness in the Luton area thanks to a local organisation who hosted a number of events for the public.
The Mandip Mudhar Memorial Foundation received a share a £140,000 Community Investment Scheme funding pot for projects to encourage more people from these backgrounds to become lifesaving organ donors.
The faith and community based organisation designed and implemented a project to break down myths and increase support for organ donation after securing funding in October 2018 through NHS Blood and Transplant’s BAME Community Investment Scheme.
Now the impact of the project delivered by the Mandip Mudhar Memorial Foundation has been published in a progress report into the first round of projects funded through the scheme. The project by the Mandip Mudhar Memorial Foundation focused on the Sikh community and included engaging with local groups and Gurdwaras, hosting events and creating educational material.
Bobby Mudhar of the Mandip Mudhar Memorial Foundation said: “The Community Investment Scheme has been a great opportunity to raise awareness of organ donation in the Sikh community.
“We know that concerns about the organ donation process can act as a barrier to people deciding to donate their organs, so having the opportunity to share Mandip’s story from a family’s perspective played an important part in normalising donation and demonstrating that families can take a positive out of loss through donation.
“The Mandip Mudhar Memorial Foundation hosted and attended numerous events from January to June 2019 to encourage organ donation awareness and registration.
The Foundation was visible at events where there was a high proportion of the South Asian / Sikh Community and also supported campaigns such as DKMS and Hope4Anaya whilst partnering with various charities such as the Sikh Arts & Cultural Association, Khalsa Football Federation Bedford, City Sikhs and British Sikh Nurses.”
