An exceptional University of Kent student who steered the student-led group Kent Marrow to sign up over 100 people to the national bone marrow donor register has been named as a top volunteer by blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan.
Katy Burnett, a second year forensic science student from the School of Physical Sciences, was given the accolade as part of National Volunteers Week, which took place from 1-7 June.
Katy, 20, originally from Brighton, has had first-hand knowledge of the importance of a donor after undergoing a bone marrow transplant to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia when she was five years old. She decided to set up Kent Marrow, a volunteering group as part of Kent Union, and has since undertaken various awareness events to encourage students to sign up to the donor register. So far, Katy’s efforts have resulted in 107 students signing up to the Anthony Nolan register.
Katy said: ‘Volunteering is one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had. It opened my eyes to how much I could change things in the world and makes me feel like the impossible is possible.
‘Anthony Nolan found me a donor when I needed one, so I have always wanted to help the charity. As a volunteer, I have been able to help Anthony Nolan spread awareness, recruit more potential donors and potentially help save the lives of more people needing transplants.
‘As a volunteer recruiting potential donors, you could find that one donor for someone who needs a transplant. It is worth all the effort you put it as you could be partly responsible for saving someone’s life.’
The news follows a recent University of Kent record for the number of volunteering hours undertaken by its students in one year. Over 103,950 hours of students’ time was donated to organisations in both the Canterbury and Medway communities, as well as organisations nationwide.
For further information contact Katie Scoggins in the Press Office at the University of Kent
Tel: 01227 823100/823581
Email: PressOffice@kent.ac.uk