Guest blog by Oli Lewington

Today on the LLTGL blog we're delighted to have Oli Lewington's guest post on the current 4Thought.tv series on compulsory organ donation. Thanks to Oli for his views, we'd love to hear what you think.

The 4Thought Question: Should Organ Donation Be Compulsory?

This week, Channel 4’s 4Thought.tv strand has be focusing on the question of whether or not organ donation should be compulsory.

We’ve heard from Professor John Harris, who believes not only should it, but also that live donors should be “incentivised” to provide their organs (for example, with cash payments); from Derek House, a Jehovah’s Witness who believes that organ donation is fundamentally wrong and shouldn’t be allowed at all; and Colin Prior, who advocates presumed consent (the system that would make people opt-out rather than opt-in to being an organ donor) after losing his 2-year-old son while he waited for a heart transplant.

Tonight, you will hear my views - or as much as can be edited into 90 seconds. For the record, here are the salient points I tried to put across (we’ll have to see how much of it came across in the end!).

GIFT OF LIFE

Firstly – and most forcefully from my perspective and that of many of the lucky recipients of transplant – is the emotional power of the knowledge that you’ve been given the gift of live, with the emphasis on ‘gift’.

I don’t know how it would feel my life wasn’t saved by a conscious choice, but rather the simple fact that my donor never opted out of the system.

FAMILY REFUSAL

Presumed consent removes the need for anyone who supports organ donation to talk to their families about their wishes. When faced with a coordinator asking you whether or not your loved ones organs can be used, how can you be sure of their wishes if you never spoke to them about it? What if you say yes, but they didn’t want that and just never got around to taking themselves of the register, to opting out?

No family in the world in that kind of pressure situation highlighted and exacerbated by grief, pain and loss will agree to donation if there is still doubt. Better to raise awareness as we are and encourage sign-up to the ODR than to risk losing organs because no one talks about it any more.

COLD, HARD FACTS

The Organ Donor Taskforce Report from November 2008 makes two key, fascinating and sobering, points:

Firstly, a switch of system would require an investment of £40million in a campaign to make sure everyone in the country new what was happening. And it does have to be everyone. No falling-through-the-cracks like the digital switchover or similar mass-market campaigns. We all have to know what will happen to our organs if we don’t opt-out.

Secondly, infrastructure: the NHS as it stands simply could not cope with the significant rise in the number of potential donors that a switch to presumed consent would bring. Sad, but true.

So surely the £40million would be better spent on awareness of the Organ Donor Register (ODR) and incremental improvement of the intensive care services, number of donor and transplant coordinators and numbers of surgical teams?

THE FINAL WORD FROM SPAIN

The Spanish organ donation and transplant system is held up - quite rightly - to be the best in the world. The numbers don’t lie.

But too many people draw incorrect conclusions from the fact that Spain has an opt-out system. Mathematicians will tell you there is a vast difference between correlation and causation.

Dr Raphael Matesanz, the pioneer held up as being chiefly responsible for the success of the Spanish system says himself:

"Many countries try to increase organ donation through legislation. But a change to presumed consent doesn't improve the donation rate".

That 3 people die every day waiting for an organ is unacceptable.

That I’ve been to the funerals of 5 friends under the age of 24 due to lack of organs is indescribably, unimaginably tragic.

That I was lucky enough to receive a transplant meaning that someone else waiting didn’t get theirs is hard to live with.

But there is more to this argument than simply increasing the size of the potential donor pool. We must see the bigger picture and continue to support the work of organisations like Live Life Then Give Life to sign as many people as possible to the organ donor register.

Oli Lewington is a friend and former founding Trustee of LLTGL. He is a writer, blogger, digital creative and social media specialist, working from his home base in a village near Northampton. In 2007 he received a life-saving double-lung transplant and never a day goes by that he doesn’t think about and thank his donor and their family for their courageous decision at the worst of times. Follow him on Twitter here.

Celebrating three years as a registered charity.

Three years ago today, LLTGL became an official registered charity. We have come so far in those three years and in some ways it seems a long time ago, in others, it seems only yesterday. Back in 2008 - our first year as a charity - some of our most memorable moments include our wonderful Jess spreading the word across the country by appearing on Noel's HQ, Nelly, our London advocate at the time, organising her own segment of the world's biggest walk, which Oli and Emily joined her and her family in completing (you can see the video here). That year we also had our very first advocate and trustee away day, and Holly's Battlefront project commenced; a project that would conclude in 2009 with a personal message of congratulations from the PM on the Downing St website! The biggest highlight that year was of course being named "Campaigning Team of the Year" at the Charity Times Awards - we were stunned but extremely proud!

2009 was another very busy year, with Holly's Donor Day capturing the hearts and minds of people all over the country. Team Jac braved gail force winds and icey rain to do the coastal walk and raise over £20,000 for LLTGL in May of that year, and the ever-inspiring Team Ethan joined the fight to raise funds and awareness, which they continue to do to this day, despite their gorgeous little boy loosing his fight just one month after his transplant. When the film My Sister's Keeper came out, Advocate Andrea Evans encouraged people to write to their local cinemas asking them to display donor leaflets in the foyer during the peroid that the film was shown. Andrea also managed to star in the Vodaphone "who would you donate your time to?" advert, getting Organ Donation a wonderful plug on TV! Emily featured in a short awareness film as well that year, entitled "I'd Give You One" after the cheeky LLTGL slogan T-shirt.

Our wonderful Jess was by then extremely ill and in September 2009, a twitter campaign entitled "Save Jess" was launched, which quickly gained attention of news channels and celebrities from across the UK. Following this, Save Jess-tival was swiftly created and took place in October, with the beautiful Natalie Imbruglia spearheading the event, and Jess taking her place as the inspirational and very special guest.

2010 started very sadly, when we lost our lovely Jess on January 12th. All at LLTGL were shaken by this hugely sad loss, but we knew we had to motivate ourselves to continue the fight that Jess had dedicated so much of her time and energy on. That year LLTGL Trustees attended several key talks and conferences, including the BTS conference, and the ETCO conference, where Emily addressed over 500 delegates from all over the globe. Yet more wonderful fundraising events took place, including Ts in the Park who selected LLTGL as the charity to benefit from their event that year. That Christmas, our Tor's Xmas Wish twitter campaign got attention from a variety of celebrities including Philip Schofield, Sarah Brown, and Peter Jones.

As well as these key events, LLTGL continues to regularly run media campaigns, support transplant patients, run educational talks and presentations, give talks as guest speakers at a variety of events, distribute Robyn's Rainbows, and many other things on a day to day basis.

None of the work we have done over the last 3 years would have been possible without the help and support of so many people. From past Trustees who have helped us achieve so much, to volunteers who give up their time and energy to support us in what we do - our charity is strong because of you.

We are excited and optimistic about the next three years, and hoping that they will be even bigger, even brighter, and even more successful.

With love and thanks to all our wonderful supporters,

The LLTGL Trustees

x

Daybreak spreads the word about Organ Donation.

We were recently contacted by the lovely Kirstie Mills, about using her story to raise more awareness.

Kirstie is 21 years old and has Cystic Fibrosis. She lives in Exeter with her fiance, and is currently undergoing her final transplant assessment tests, with the hope of getting on the waiting list as soon as possible. Kirstie is a very beautiful eloquent young woman and has started keeping a blog to try to convey to people what life is like for her at the moment.

Emily got in touch with ITV's Daybreak about Kirstie's story and they decided they wanted to feature her! Unfortunately Kirstie was too ill to travel up to London on the day, so Emily went in her place to talk about transplantation and raise awareness about the chronic shortage of donors.

The interview was shown on Friday morning and they also showed some very moving footage of Kirstie talking about her blog and her current health status, which was filmed by her local ITV news and which you can see here.

A big thank you to Daybreak for helping us spread the word, and of course to Kirstie for allowing us to share her story. All of us at LLTGL are wishing her the best of luck for her assessment and hope to hear that she's on that waiting list very soon.

x

Extraordinary Emily

On Thursday February 10th the Live Life then Give Life team attended the Just Giving Awards at the Emirates Stadium in London. We were up for Charity of the Year (people's choice) and Emily (our wonderful chairman) was up for the Lifetime Achievement Award (yes at 26!).

Sadly we didn't win the Charity award it went to the amazing charity Shelterbox however Emily’s hard work and determination in the field of fundraising was recognised as she won the lifetime acheievement award. Emily campaigns relentlessly to raise awareness about both organ donation and cystic fibrosis so we were thrilled that she was rewarded for her efforts!


Emily started fundraising at the tender age of 10, when she held a small event in her back garden, raising £120. She has since helped raise over £60,000 for various charities, including the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and us here at Live Life Then Give Life.

Emily has never stopped campaigning and in 2006 did her biggest fundraiser to date, where she left her hospital bed to take part in a 5K challenge, using a wheelchair and oxygen to help her complete the course and raising over £20,000.

Emily says “I love fundraising; it gives me such a buzz knowing that I’m doing something proactive for causes I care so much about. I was absolutely stunned to win at the Justgiving awards last night and completely overwhelmed. I’m hugely grateful to all those who continue to support me in my fight to raise awareness and funds for both Cystic Fibrosis and Organ Donation.”



Matt Coyne, our Vice-chairman says “I was wondering how someone so young could receive a Life Time Achievement award...I believe anyone that knows her, has listened to one of her talks or chatted to her in our online community, would be able to answer that question for me with ease.”

Read an article from Emily's local paper here.

Well done Emily, you are inspiring and we are all so proud of you x

Christmas Media Campaign 2010

Happy New Year LLTGLers - hopefully you've all had a wonderful festive period and are geared up and ready for 2011!

We finished off the year with our Christmas Media campaign which was, as usual, a huge success. Thanks to dozens of people touched by organ donation sharing their stories with us, we were able to get the message out to millions of people across the UK about how organ donation transforms lives.

14-year-old Aaron and his mum Cat (pictured above) made the front page of the Peebles Times with their story about Aaron's liver and small bowel transplant.

Double lung recipient Clair Hemmington was featured in her local paper along with her beautiful 7-year-old daughter Lucy.

Rich Burbedge spent last Christmas in hospital, fighting for every breath, but this year was able to spread the word about his new lease of life, thanks to his double lung transplant. Siobhan Morris from London also celebrated a Christmas she never thought she'd see, and made the front page of her local paper.

The Romford Recorder featured LLTGL Ambassador Victoria Tremlett and her campaign Tor's Christmas Wish. Fellow Ambassador Rachy was featured on BBC Manchester radio and BBC Northwest, as well as in the Manchester Evening News - hugely inspirational as Rachy has suffered many complications since her transplant and yet remains so grateful, reminding people that without the transplant, she would not even be here.

Angharad Van Der Walt from Pontypridd in Wales was featured in her local paper talking about her wait for new lungs. We were delighted to hear that Angharad was called for transplant in the New Year and is currently recovering in Harefield hospital. It's early days but so far she is doing well. We're all thinking of you Angharad, and of course of the family who said yes and who have given you the gift of life.

According to calculations so far, our Christmas media campaign reached over 2.9 million people this year. Huge thanks to all the fantastic volunteers, just some of whom are detailed above, who shared their stories with us, and with the general public. Raising awareness really does save lives.

Our Em

If any of you have ever had the chance to hear our Chairman Emily speak about her life then you will know what an inspirational person she is and what an inspirational story she tells.

We at Live Life Then Give Life believe that one method of raising awareness that triumphs above all others is telling a real life story. Emily works constantly and tirelessly to save and improve the lives of people on the transplant waiting list and the way she does this best is by talking (well, are you surprised?) This week she has been on BBC Radio Surrey's breakfast show as part of their life stories section.

Emily's interview has been split into 4 parts with the final part being aired on BBC Surrey tomorrow at 9.40am. The other 3 parts can be heard on IPlayer by following the links below:


Part 1 - 53 Minutes in. - Emily talks about life before transplant, using a wheel chair and trying to hold onto her indpendance while Cystic Fibrosis compromised it.

Part 2 - 1 hour 49 Minutes in. - Emily talks about being given 12months to live, her work for Live Life Then Give Life and life on the transplant waiting list.

Part 3 - 1 hour 49 Minutes in. - Emily talks about life after transplant 4 years on and her future, thanks to her donor.


Well done Emily, you are and continue to be an inspiration to many people and we are so pleased to have you as our Chairman x

Tor's Christmas Wish

LLTGL Ambassador Victoria Tremlett is 23 years old. She's beautiful, clever, passionate and ambitious, but her life is currently on hold whilst she waits and hopes for a double lung transplant.

Tor has been waiting for over three and a half years now, and so knows her time is running out fast. She has decided to make a Christmas Wish, and we need you to help it come true. Please read what this incredible lady has to say and spread the word.

"My name is Tor and I'm 23 years old, however unlike most 23 year olds I am waiting for a double lung transplant to save my life. When I was put on the transplant waiting list I was told I had 18months to live, I have now been waiting 3 and 1/2 years, and it doesn't take much to see I am living on borrowed time.

I use oxygen 24/7 to support my failing lungs, a wheelchair to leave the house, the majority of my day is dedicated to medical treatment just to try and keep me stable. The smallest tasks like getting dressed, combing my hair and brushing my teeth leave me absolutely exhausted and my mum has to help me with everything.

My Christmas wish would ultimately be to get the transplant I so desperately need, but due to the shortage of donors, this may not happen. Without a transplant this could be my last Christmas, and so this December, I want to get at least 5000 people to sign the organ donor register, in the hope of saving lives.

50% of people waiting for lungs will die purely because not enough people have signed up to donate after their death. Each of us has the power to change this statistic. I don't know if my call will come but by signing up you will create chances for so many people facing a death sentence.

Please help me achieve my Christmas wish and give me hope, a future and the chance to see next Christmas.

Thank you."

What you can do:

• Sign up! It's quick and simple, just go to http://tinyurl.com/torsxmaswish


• Be proud about the fact you've signed up! Let people know, especially your next of kin.


• Pass the message on. We'd love to help her see 5000 new names on the Organ Donor Register by January 1st but we need you to help spread the word about Tor's Christmas Wish.

On behalf of Tor and everyone else waiting, thank you for your support. It literally could save lives.

We need YOU to help us raise awareness this Christmas!

With less than a month to go till Christmas, we're getting started on our Christmas Media campaign for 2010! It has been hugely successful every year so far, and the most important element of this campaign is you! We need our supporters who have been affected by transplantation or organ donation to get in touch if they feel they could help us.

What is the LLTGL Christmas Media Campaign?
Every Christmas, we create press releases for volunteers from all over the country who offer to share their story with us and the media. Christmas is a particularly appropriate time as it's a period when we think of giving to and supporting others, a theme that ties in well with organ donation. We then pitch these to local newspapers (and sometimes on a wider scale, if appropriate). Volunteers are consulted throughout and there is never any obligation.

Who does LLTGL need for this?
Anyone affected by organ donation or transplantation! Perhaps you're waiting for a transplant, maybe you're alive today thanks to the gift of a stranger. Are you a donor family member who's keen to help spread the word? Perhaps you're a friend or family member who has been touched by these issues and you want to do your bit. Every story is powerful in its own unique way, and if you think you might be able to help us by sharing yours, we'd love you to get in touch.

OK I want to help, what now?
Email info [at] lltgl.org.uk and we will send you some basic questions which will help us start creating your press release. We will then get back in touch with you to go through the release and ensure you're happy with everything before we go any further.

Facts and figures are great, but it's been proven time and time again that the best way to strike a chord with the public is to demonstrate the reality behind the statistics. With your help, we can enable more people to understand just why organ donation is so important, and why we all need to shout Live Life Then Give Life!

On behalf of the 10,000 people desperately waiting right now for that life-changing call.... thank you x

The week that was...National Transplant Week

It was a while ago we know, but we’ve been so busy we haven’t actually had time to blog about what LLTGL got up to!

As always, our biggest contribution to NTW was our PR campaign. Some of you kindly shared your stories with us, so we could, in turn, get them out to regional and national media outlets to raise awareness about Organ Donation and the wonders a Transplant can bring

We had 10 PR volunteers this year, and with the help of PR consultant Sarah Milne, between them they managed to get their story out to over 8.5 million people. Hits included Victoria Tremlett and Jen Grannell in the Mirror, Victoria Glen and Gerard Falsey in the Glasgow Evening Times, Lucy Spaull in the Richmond and Twickenham Times, and our very own Chairman Emily in Boots Health and Beauty Magazine.

We are hugely grateful to everyone who has shared their story with us at any point in time; statistics are helpful, but hearing a real story, a real example of just how important Organ Donation is, can be so much more powerful. If you would like to help us by sharing your story, please get in touch via the contact page on our website.

To help maximise online awareness, we had an image designed which we hoped a few people would share on their facebook pages and twitter profiles. The concept was far more popular than we could have hoped, and literally hundreds of people had changed their profile pictures to the image (below) by the middle of the week.

Throughout NTW, we were tweeting key facts about organ donation and transplantation. Our fabulous Ambassador Victoria Tremlett worked extremely hard sending tweets to celebrities, and got a fantastic response. Thanks to Tor, the LLTGL tweet team, and other supporters, celebrities promoting NTW included Duncan Bannatyne, Jason Manford, Lorraine Kelly, Sarah Brown, India Knight, Bill Bailey and Sheridan Smith.

The celeb supporters’ combined followers (therefore people who can see their tweets) add up to over 1.8 million, so a fantastic result! Hundreds of you also retweeted our messages (our most popular one was retweeted 167 times), and we are hugely grateful to each and every one of you for helping us spread the word.

A massive thank you to every single person who helped us support National Transplant Week - it was a huge success and really pushed Organ Donation into the spotlight. We're already looking forward to next year!

Independent Woman

Our loyal supporter Holly Cocker featured in the Independent newspaper today. The article discussed her transplant journey, where her best friend Oli donated a kidney to her after she had spent 5 years on dialysis. The headline of the article says it all ‘He simply said, have my kidney. He was my best friend – now he’s my hero’



Other people were also interviewed for the article, each of the people in the article have been part of Holly Cocker’s “Give and Let Live” photography project which promotes the benefit of living kidney donation. When discussing the project Holly said “When I travelled round to meet up with everyone and take their photo there was never a moment of awkwardness. The fact that we had been through the same thing somehow made it seem as if we were old friends. It is hard to put into words, but I instantly felt and understood the connection between the people in every couple I met. The attachment Oli and I have is incredible, amazing. It is like nothing else. He saved me.”

To read the full article click here and to read more about Holly’s project click here.

The article even mentions us at the bottom! Way to go Holly from all at Live Life Then Give Life x

Recording of incorrect data on the NHS Organ Donor Register

The stories and reports surrounding the recording of incorrect data on the Organ Donor Register are very confusing. The basic important facts are as follows:

- This error only affects people who registered through the DVLA. All those potentially affected have been identified, and are being contacted by NHSBT. Data from their files will not be used until they have been spoken to and details have been verified.

- The error is not that people have been incorrectly recorded as wanting to donate, rather their specific preferences as to which organs they do and do not want to donate have been incorrectly recorded.

- NHSBT says: “There are a small number of cases, 21 over the past six years, where the person has died and their preferences may not have been correctly recorded. In each case the family gave permission for the donation to take place, but it may not have been in line with the individual’s preferences.”

We have issued the following statement in response to this story:

LLTGL are reassured that the issue of data being incorrectly recorded on the Organ Donor Register is being thoroughly investigated. This error means that within the 16 million willing registered donors, there are a number that registered through the DVLA, whose specific preferences have been incorrectly recorded. Those potentially affected have been identified and are being contacted, and any donations that have taken place involving affected parties have done so with the family’s explicit consent.

We hope that the public do not let this error, which is now being investigated and rectified, detract from the importance of giving the gift of life. When considering organ donation, it is vital to discuss your wishes with your next of kin, to ensure that they are aware of your exact preferences.

Click here to read the full statement from NHSBT. Click here to download and read the full statement from the Donor Family Network.

Please....Live Life Then Give Life.

Do you have three minutes to spare? Listen to Rachael's story to hear just why Organ Donation is so important.

Rachael Wakefield on BBC North West Tonight from Live Life Then Give Life on Vimeo.

Despite being desperately ill and struggling for each breath, Rachael managed to record this piece for her local BBC News.

Please pass this link on, and if you've been inspired by Rachael's determination to keep fighting, click here to sign the Organ Donor Register.

Thank you.

Our thanks to BBC Northwest for allowing us to use this clip.

Our Jess.

It is with great sadness that we have to inform you of the death of Jessica Wales only weeks after receiving the double lung transplant that she had waited for over four years to receive.

During this period, she showed great courage and determination, inspiring people across the country through her relentless campaigning and upbeat attitude. Jess was not only a valued Live Life then Give Life Advocate but also a great friend to many and we offer her family our sincere condolences at this sad time.

We will continue to campaign for all those who wait for an organ transplant and, whilst not every outcome will be what we would wish, we hope that one day all those who need a transplant will get it when they are fittest and it is most likely to have a good long-term outcome.

We will be releasing an official statement in due course and request that the privacy of Jess’s family is respected at this time.

The LLTGL Christmas media campaign

The Christmas Media Campaign is one of the cornerstones of our work here at LLTGL and one we have always had lots of success with over the years. Our aim is to highlight that Christmas is a particularly poignant and emotional time of year for all people affected by organ donation and transplantation: Those waiting for transplants who fear it may be their last; those who have had transplants who remain alive to celebrate with their friends and families; the families of those who died waiting; and to honour donor families who will be spending Christmas without their loved ones.

This year, our friend Sarah Milne will be co-ordinating our Christmas campaign. We are already off to a good start with Rach Wakefield's story on newswire, but we need more! If you are interested in being featured in the LLTGL Christmas campaign please message her with a brief summary of your story and a Christmassy quote about what this Christmas means to you.

With love as always,

Gifts of Life

Huge well done to Holly Cocker, a photographer from London, whose photographs grace the cover of this month's Kidney Life magazine, a quarterly publication from the National Kidney Federation. In 2006 the NKF published the Transplant Manifesto, which spurred on the creation of the Organ Donation Task Force to make a number of recommendations to increase the number of organs available for transplantation.

Holly was given a transplant from her best friend Oli last year, and created the Give and Let Live project to highlight the special bond that exists between living organ donors and their recipients. Together with Sarah Milne, a freelance writer and photographer whose son Will had a small bowel transplant also last year, they have created the "Gifts of Life" project.

Holly and Sarah will be working with LLTGL in 2010 on various projects to showcase their photography and raise awareness of both living and cadaveric donation. We are all super excited to be working with them both, so watch this space for news and info about upcoming projects!

ps. Our eagle-eyed supporters will also notice Andy (a.k.a. saxophonist with Big Buzzard and the Organ Grinders, who produced a charity single for us in 2007) along with his awesome donor Maff! You can read more about Andy and Maff on their website Have One of Mine, where you can also still buy our single!

LLTGL on the Secret Millionaire!

Finally, we've managed to acquire a clip of our Welsh advocate Andrea Evan's star turn on a Vodafone Ad in between The Secret Millionaire! You can spot her 5 clips in!





Andy, who does a lot of work for St John's Ambulance, received an email asking her to go along to Cardiff Bay to promote the first aid charity. As one of her colleagues had already done a segment asking people to donate themselves to St John's Andy jumped at the chance to mention us! Although she was nervous about how she was going to get onto the giant box, after plenty of giggles she climbed up and said why she would (and does!) donate herself to us!


Andy says: "The filming was pretty fun, however I had to repeat myself- and each time I did it slightly differently, which meant that it took longer to film. Thankfully the sun was shining and it was a lovely day!"


Well done Andy, and huge thanks for all you do for LLTGL!!

NHSBT's new hard-hitting campaign

NHSBT have today launched a brand new hard-hitting campaign to try to close the gap between those who say they would accept an organ if they needed one, and those who have signed the Organ Donor Register to say they would give one.

You can view the new campaign by clicking here to visit the website. The new TV ad will be screened tonight for the first time, but you can watch it here.

What do you think? We'd love to hear people's reactions.

Tickets for Save Jess-tival are now on sale!

It's official!

Tickets for our Save Jess-tival are on sale NOW!

Click here to buy and hurry, they're going fast!

Hope to see you there -thanks for your support!

x

Did anyone see us on the telly last night?!?!

Woah!

Apparently we were featured last night on the Vodafone ads in between the Secret Millionaire programme

We all missed it and are dying to know if anyone else managed to catch the adverts?!?! If so, let us know what you thought!!

The secrets to a successful campaign!

We were so excited when an email popped into our inboxes about our North-West Advocate, Holly Shaw's star turn on the front cover of the National Council of Voluntary Organizations!

As many of our supporters will know, Holly has been a massive champion of ours over the last year and has made an incredible contribution of her own (through her Battlefront campaign) that chimes with LLTGL's mission as a charity- namely, getting people to think and talk about organ donation and transplants so more people can have the chance to experience the "gift of life"

The article highlights how Holly managed to make her Battlefront campaign work successfully through the amazing powers of social networking, in particular, through Bebo, Twitter and Facebook. Continuing her sterling work, Holly has been out and about this week in various schools talking about her experiences of organ donation as well as about some of the secrets to her successful campaign that you can read about by going over to Holly's blog .

If you're feeling inspired, and want to get involved with giving talks, promoting organ donation some more or you have a really great idea that you reckon will get people thinking and talking about organ donation, please get in touch! We're also over on Twitter and other places, so come join our party!