African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) is an independent UK charity for people
with

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

and other life-threatening disorders. The ACLT aims to raise awareness on stem cell, blood and organ donation in the UK, with a particular focus on black and mixed race communities.

History

Six-year-old Daniel De-Gale was diagnosed with

in 1993. His survival required a

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

transplant; as stem cells have racially-specific characteristics, the donor had to be from the black or mixed race population. With only 550 registered donors, there was a 1 in 250,000 chance of finding a matching donor for Daniel. His parents, Beverley De-Gale and Orin Lewis, therefore identified the need for an organisation to raise awareness and increase the number of donors, and co-founded the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust in 1996. In 1999, Daniel, 12, became the first black person in the UK to receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor. By 2008 ACLT had enlisted corporate support and established patrons and trustees, including the first winner of the television programme ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

'' Tim Campbell and ex-world heavyweight boxing champion,

David Haye David Deron Haye (born 13 October 1980) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2002 and 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, and was the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Amate ...

. On 8 October 2008, Daniel De-Gale, aged 21, died due to further health complications. Since 2009, the 'Daniel De-Gale Blood Donation Month' each October, along with other ACLT recruitment initiatives, has raised the base level of potential donors from 100s to tens of 1,000s. The ACLT continues to raise awareness surrounding stem cell (bone marrow), blood and organ donation to increase the number of ethnic minority people entered on stem cell, blood and organ donor registers.

Awards and achievements

In 2006, the ACLT received a ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'' Pride of Britain Special Achievement Award. Beverley and Orin were awarded with OBEs in the

2011 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2011 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2011 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,2012 New Year Honours 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

respectively, for services to healthcare.

Awards

Orin Lewis is chair of the National BME Cancer Voice, co-chair of the National BAME Transplant Alliance, a member of the National Cancer Equalities Initiative advisory group and a member of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation Clinical Reference Group.

Partners

ACLT works with partner organisations including: * NHS Blood & Transplant, the authority responsible for supplying blood for transplants *

Anthony Nolan Anthony Nolan is a UK charity that works in the areas of leukaemia and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. It manages and recruits donors to the Anthony Nolan Register, which is part of an aligned registry that also includes the ''Welsh Bon ...

, the UK's largest bone marrow registry, working with them on the ''Being African Caribbean'' campaign. * DKMS, the world's largest stem cell donor centre * University African Caribbean Societies (ACS) *

Capital Xtra Capital XTRA (formerly Choice FM) is a Global Media & Entertainment, Global-owned radio station that broadcasts on 96.9 FM broadcasting, FM and 107.1 FM in Greater London. Nationally, it is heard on Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB Digital Ra ...

Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.aclt.org/ Organizations established in 1996 Leukemia Health charities in the United Kingdom 1996 establishments in the United Kingdom