A plaque to honour island blood donors who have hit the half century was unveiled today.

The plaque listing the 100-plus names of people who have given 50 or more blood or blood product donations has been installed at the Bermuda Blood Donor Centre at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

The plaque was given by Peter Barrett in honour of his father Leslie.

Lucy Correia, Blood Donor Centre nurse phlebotomist, said: “We are very grateful to Peter Barrett for the gift in honour of his father and excited to be able to recognise the people in Bermuda who have achieved 50 or more blood or apheresis donations.

“Only our most dedicated donors reach this target and we hope more will be encouraged to do so.

“If someone donated blood every two months — the minimum time between donations — it would takes over eight years to reach 50 donations. It is a real commitment to caring for the community.”

Dr Eyitayo Fakunle, consultant haematologist, added: “It is wonderful to honour the people in our community who regularly donate blood to save lives and treat challenging conditions like cancer and sickle cell anaemia.

“As each pint of donated blood can help up to three people, each donor on this plaque could have each helped up to 150 people in Bermuda.

“That’s a wonderful legacy and we hope more people are encouraged to get their name on the 50 Donations plaque.”

Anyone interested in donating blood should call 236-5067 or e-mail blooddonor@bhb.bm.”