The Herts & Essex Volunteering Hub is one of our newest hubs, started in September 2024 by Lesley Calder.

Lesley says, "There is a need for many more donors and I initially became involved in some awareness and donor drive activities for a patient. It was so stressful for the family to have to go through this, with the additional worry of a donor not being found in time. I wanted to set up this hub to continue to increase the odds of potential matching donors already being registered at the point of need. 

“I found out about stem cell donation in detail after being diagnosed with AML in 2019 and being told that I would need one! I was so lucky that my sister was the perfect match, fit enough and willing to be my donor. It gave my family and I such positivity to have that second chance ahead of us. I want as many others as possible to have that too. To add to that friends and family joined DKMS to become lifesavers in waiting after my treatment and this year I was with my son when he became the donor for someone in the US !” 

To find out more about the hub, visit our website.