Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On

In which The Author gives you a quick sitrep

Since I told you about Mike Brandon and the Shake4Mike appeal last time (see The Shake4Mike Appeal Needs Your Help!) things have been moving very quickly.

The Anthony Nolan Trust announced earlier today that registration of potential stem cell donors has gone up by a mighty 650% in a week. Last night, the campaign’s Facebook page had a photo of extra volunteers who’d been drafted in to help post out the sampling kits. However, only one person in a thousand will be compatible with someone needing treatment. It’s important that as many people register their details as is humanly possible.

With this in mind, I’d ask you (again) to share this campaign far and wide. You can use the hashtag #Shake4Mike in your Tweets; you can like and share the Facebook page; and you can join in the Shake4Mike fun yourself, like I did this afternoon:

It’s as easy as that: shake your face, take a photo, add the hashtag, and upload it to whatever social media you use. Then nominate your friends to do the same. Simple!

Most importantly, if you’re aged between sixteen and thirty, then please join the tissue register! You simply have to supply a saliva sample and the doctors will do the rest. With only one compatible person in a thousand, the chances of finding a match increase greatly as more people join the register. Even if you’re outside the target age group, tell your relatives, your friends and your work colleagues please about the campaign. Spread the word through your local schools and colleges, if you’ve got any contacts there. If you know anyone in the public eye, then why not try and get them on board?

Time is of the essence here, so please don’t hang around. The No Makeup Selfie went viral a couple of months ago, and raised millions for cancer research. This campaign doesn’t even want your money (although the Trust welcomes donations, of course.) It just wants your time and your saliva. Who can’t spare a little of each? Let’s put the power of social media to good effect, and try and change the world one click at a time!

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The Shake4Mike Appeal Needs Your Help!

In which The Author calls on your charitable spirit

I’m going to try and use Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and all the other social networks for a very deserving cause. Please take a minute to read this through to the very end…

A young British man named Mike Brandon is being treated for a rare form of leukaemia, and his doctors are trying to find a suitable stem cell donor. Time is of the essence here, as Mike’s doctors are hoping to carry out treatment at the end of July. His story has already been featured in local and national newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph.

Through the superb UK charity the Anthony Nolan Trust, Mike’s fiancée Kate Robertson has organised an online campaign to help in the search. Kate is related to my mother’s next-door neighbour, which is why I’m so keen to spread the word about this campaign.

I’ll outline it briefly for you:

Do you remember the no-make-up selfie craze that swept Facebook a couple of months ago? The viral campaign that raised millions for cancer research? Yes, that one! Well, this is on similar lines.

You’re invited to ‘shake your face’ in a selfie, post it online, and then nominate a friend to do the same. If you have a look at the Shake4Mike Facebook page, you’ll see lots of photos of people who’ve already taken part.

This afternoon, the campaign descended on White Hart Lane to try and recruit potential donors. A crew from BBC’s news programme Points West were waiting to interview them; Mike’s story has already appeared in the national papers, and I’m trying to get a bit more impetus behind the campaign.

The maximum age for potential donors is thirty, which means that I’m well and truly over the hill. However, if you’re aged between sixteen and thirty, please go to the Anthony Nolan Trust website and you can see more information about registering.

The test itself is painless – all that’s required is a saliva sample. If you can take a moment to spit into a plastic bottle, that’s all you need to do. The doctors will do the rest.

You can follow the campaign on Twitter at @shake4mike, you can search the hashtag #shake4mike, or you can support them on Facebook. Even if you’re outside the target group (like me), please share this information far and wide so that as many people see it as possible. Please tell your family, friends, college pals, workmates, whoever else you can think of… A suitable donor must be out there somewhere – we’ve just got to put the word out.

Even if you can’t help directly with the search for a donor, there’s a JustGiving page which will help to raise funds for this vital research. Why not have a look at it. Even a pound will go a long way. (If you’re a UK taxpayer, don’t forget to fill in the Gift Aid section, which enables the Anthony Nolan Trust to reclaim an extra 25% from HMRC.)

If you read this, I’d be eternally grateful if you could click some (or all) of the sharing buttons at the bottom of the page. The more widely we can spread this, the better the chance we have of finding a suitable donor. The clock is ticking, so please don’t delay.

The media love to slag off Facebook, Twitter and the whole social networking phenomenon. Let’s show them that we can harness it for positive reasons, and maybe help to save this young man’s life.

Thanks a lot for reading this.