ARGYLL and Bute has been named in the top 20 UK parliamentary constituencies for people on the country’s official blood cancer donor register.

According to statistics published by the Anthony Nolan charity, Argyll and Bute has 2,273 potential stem cell donors, four out of ten of them male, with an average age of 34.

A total of 174 new donors from the area have signed up in the last 12 months –partly thanks to a publicity campaign launched after the Advertiser featured the story of Helensburgh teenager Ciaran Mackenzie, who joined the register in 2015 and was called up to give a life-saving bone marrow donation the following year.

The figures for all the Westminster constituencies were published by the charity to mark Blood Cancer Awareness Month, which runs throughout September, in conjunction with Anthony Nolan’s ‘Community vs Blood Cancer’ campaign.

Helensburgh’s MP, Brendan O’Hara, was presented with a certificate marking Argyll and Bute’s place in the top 20 at a reception last week.

He said: “I am very proud that Argyll and Bute has more than 2,000 people who have selflessly volunteered to give someone a second chance at life.

“Donating stem cells is straightforward but it could make an enormous difference to someone with no other chance of a cure.

“I strongly hope that more people from our community will be inspired to sign up and show that together, we can provide a cure for blood cancer.”

Men aged 16-30 are the most likely to be asked to donate – they provide more than half of all donations, but make up just one in six of all the people on the register.

Henny Braund, chief executive of Anthony Nolan, said: “It’s wonderful to have the support of Argyll and Bute in achieving our goal of saving and improving the lives of people with blood cancer and blood disorders.”

For more information about the charity, visit anthonynolan.org/communities