Bedford’s Sicilian community have donned their ball gowns and dancing shoes to support blood cancer charity, DKMS, raising £17,000 with a spectacular ball on Saturday (26 April), which will help pay towards adding hundreds of potential lifesavers to the stem cell donor register.
DKMS is one of the most significant non-profit organisations in the world dedicated to the fight against blood cancer, with more than 12.5 million registered donors, providing blood stem cell donations to those in need.
The DKMS Bedford Volunteering Hub has organised 80 stem cell registration events in the local community since the group formed seven years ago, and 3,000 people have joined the stem cell register at these events.
In 2024, five people who registered through the Bedford hub went on to donate their stem cells and were able to give blood cancer patients a second chance at life.
One diagnosis every 14 minutes
The stats behind blood cancers are striking.
Every 14 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer, and they are the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK. Every year, nearly 13,000 people die from blood cancer in the UK.
At any one time, there are around 2,000 people in the UK in need of a stem cell transplant, and only 16% of the entire registry is from minority ethnic backgrounds.
The DKMS Bedford Hub was set up in May 2018 as part of the search to find a stem cell match for a local five-year-old leukaemia patient named Kaiya.
Sadly, Kaiya passed away in January 2019, but the Bedford hub has continued its mission to find as many potential lifesavers as possible.
Poonam Chand, head of the DKMS Bedford Volunteer Hub, said, “A heartfelt thank you to the Trinacria Committee for their passion, energy, and unwavering commitment in raising £17,000 for DKMS.
“The volunteer work we do in Bedford truly changes lives – last year alone, five lives were saved through stem cell donations from individuals who signed up at our local drives.
“Thanks to this incredible diverse community of Bedford, over 3,000 people have now registered, and the funds raised will go directly towards processing the cheek swabs we collect.”
In the weeks leading up to the event, Maria Taverna from MGT Fitness Studio, an active member of Bedford’s Sicilian community, also organised a sponsored walk in aid of DKMS.
Reflecting on the walk, Poonam said, “From ages 8 to 80, 40 walkers showed up with heart, energy and purpose. It was a truly inspiring event that reflects everything that makes Bedford so special: its generosity, community, and diversity”.
You can continue to donate to that fundraiser here.
Ian Corpuz, Volunteering Manager at DKMS UK, said of the event, “The DKMS Bedford Volunteering Hub do incredible, life-changing work in their community.
“The people of Bedford have been huge supporters of DKMS’ work, and we are so grateful to the Trinacria Bedford Association for their generosity.
“Every day, people in Bedford and around the country join the stem cell donor register, hoping to give patients a second chance at life, but we rely on fundraising in order to register them, so this event has been a great support in our mission.”
You can find out more information, and join the stem cell donor register at dkms.org.uk.
