HUNDREDS more lives will be saved this year thanks to the generous donors who supported the Daily Echo’s Mine’s A Pint campaign.

Between April 28 and July 24, 1,023 people from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area gave blood compared to 918 donors during the same period last year.

Jonathan Sewell, of NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Thank you to the Bournemouth Echo for such fantastic support over the last eight months.

“We are very grateful to the paper for promoting blood donation through the Mine's A Pint campaign. We’d also like to thank those donors who have come forward to help save lives.

“Now we need people to keep giving, or come and donate for the first time, as we look to maintain stocks over the Paralympics and into the autumn.

“With every donation potentially saving three lives, you really can make an amazing contribution by giving blood.”

The Echo launched its campaign at the start of the year following warnings from NHSBT of a potential shortfall in blood stocks in the run up to the 2012 London Olympic Games.

But following numerous appeals, more than 56,000 donors throughout the south west helped to build blood stocks to a 30 per cent higher level.

The NHS relies on 7,000 units of blood every day to help treat patients in accident and emergency cases, as well as scheduled treatments such as maternity and cancer care, so it’s vital that blood stocks remain constant throughout such a busy period.

People who are eligible to donate are urged to make an appointment at blood.co.uk or by calling 0300 123 23 23. Appointments can also be booked using the newly launched application for Android and Apple Smartphone and tablet devices which enables donors to search for their nearest blood donation sessions. The app is call NHSGiveBlood and can be found at the Iphone app store and the Google Play Store.