A Dartmouth blood donor was honoured for his commitment to saving lives last month at a donor award ceremony in Bovey Tracey

Chris Pillar, 72, was given a certificate, badge and commemorative medal, by the NHS Blood and Transplant service at an awards ceremony for those donors who had given blood 100 times.

Chris gives blood at Townstal Community Hall. He began donating his blood in the early 1970s and remembers how things were. He said: “When I first started to give blood, It might finish at 2 o’clock and then I would drive to Wadebridge to go rowing. That’s not acceptable now; you mustn’t drive afterwards.

“The blood service would like to give you money for donating but they can’t. When I had 75 points [blood donations] I attended a dinner and received a Royal Doulton Rosebowl and the 100 donors had a decanter. Now its a certificate and a lunch. I had been waiting for a year for this ceremony.

“I’m 72 years old now but I keep fit. I have been a rower, I run and used to play rugby. I played for Brixham firsts in the 70s and toured the USA with them. After that I returned to play for Dartmouth. I was 37 when I gave up but I still keep running. I did the Regatta Road Race this year.

“I have been in Dartmouth all my life. I worked in the laundry, had a spell in the merchant navy and then worked on British Rail for a time. I used to work for South Hams council for four or five years and I was a ‘retained’ fireman for 27 years. My last job was as a postman for eight years in Dartmouth.”

One million people across England and North Wales are now registered to book donation appointments online. However, the Blood Service needs over 6,000 blood donations every day to treat patients in need across England. Each year the service needs approximately 200,000 new donors, as some donors can no longer give blood.

Most people between the ages of 17-65 are able to give blood but around half the current donors are over 45. The service is trying to recruit more young people (over the age of 17) to start giving blood, so they can make sure to have enough blood in the future. If you wish to become a blood donor go to https://www.blood.co.uk/why-give-blood/