28401DEDICATED blood donors from Melksham have been presented with gold badges after making 50 donations.

Bernice Deacon, Mike Blackland, Cary Stadden, Lyndsey Hallam, Christopher Joad, Ivy Dixon, Dee Temple-Multon and Ursula Sinclair, also got certificates to mark their achievement.

Melksham organiser Joan Baines said: "They get a bronze medal for 10 donations, a silver for 25 and a gold for 50, then for 75 they get a crystal plate."

The service is always in need of more donors, more so at the moment as a new ruling means that anyone who has received a blood transfusion since 1980 cannot now donate.

Mrs Baines said: "The new rule takes out a lot of people, those who have had operations and in particular a lot of women who have had caesareans.

"We also have a lot of people who will come along once and then not come back. We want to encourage people to come along as often as they can and we want to get more young people interested.

"There is really nothing to be worried about. There is just a test to measure your blood count and then the donation, which takes about 10 minutes."

The National Blood Service relies entirely on its volunteers to provide enough blood for the life-saving procedures carried out in the country's hospitals every day.

The service needs about 2.5million donations every year and is always looking for new volunteers.

The next session in Melksham will be held at Melksham House on Monday between 1.30-3.15pm and 5-7.15pm.