136 units of blood collected at SPH Red Apple Day 2015

SINGAPORE - Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), in partnership with the Singapore Red Cross Society, has collected 136 units of blood from 197 donors today at the SPH Red Apple Day, its biannual blood donation drive.

As part of Singapore Red Cross' mobile blood drive, the event at SPH News Centre auditorium attracted both first time donors and regular donors amongst SPH staff and members of the public.

Supported by Beatty Secondary School, school teachers, students and their parents volunteered and donated blood as well.

Currently into its 15th year, the SPH Red Apple Day was made a biannual drive in 2011 to help encourage blood donations, especially during festive periods when blood supplies are usually low.

According to the Singapore Red Cross Society, blood donor numbers are dwindling as the population ages and people develop medical conditions that prevent them from donating blood. In 2013, there were 70,824 blood donors.

Last year, this number shrank to 68,868. A greying Singapore also means more people will need blood transfusions in future. It estimates Singapore will need more than 120,000 units of blood over this year and this is likely to be 220,000 by 2030.

Mr Alan Chan, Chief Executive Officer of SPH said: "Despite recent reports of dwindling blood donor numbers in Singapore, it is heartening to see so many staff and members of the public stepping forward to offer the gift of life at the SPH Red Apple Day. SPH will continue to support this meaningful cause as we face an ever increasing need for blood donations."

The SPH Red Apple Day 2015 is supported by Benelux, Cerebos, Gardenia, Spatone and Nestle. The event media partners are SPH MediaBoxOffice, SPH Digital and SPH Radio's three stations - ONE FM 91.3, Kiss92, UFM100.3.