After my recent trip to the hospital there were lots of things that were brought to my attention. I have heard much of the failing health system and yet my treatment was prompt, effective and friendly. I did however watch a news story about hospitals running out of vital drugs and medication…while sitting in the patient treatment area. I also learnt a bit about ambos and how wonderful they are but how difficult and demanding their job is and, unfortunately, how little they get paid to do it. I won’t get started on the health system rant because I’m sure there is too much ground to cover here.

But another thing that has been brought to my attention is blood donation, or lack thereof. Unfortunately due to my regularity of getting tattooed I am unable to donate blood – not to mention I’m a bit of a sook. But there are plenty of people out there in dire need of blood to make them better or even save their lives and who knows, one day it might even be you. I recently found out about a fantastic social media campaign aiming to raise awareness and encourage blood donation in the best way possible.

Free Pass is a light-hearted approach to a serious issue. According to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, 1 in 3 Australians will need blood, but only 1 in 30 will ever donate and few people realise how frequently it's possible to donate - every 12 weeks.

The concept of Free Pass evolved as a result of numerous amounts of research which suggests that perceived inconvenience is a significant barrier to blood donation. People want to donate blood but often don't feel they are able to take time away from other priorities (work, children, household, study, etc.) to justify taking the time to visit a mobile donation centre or Red Cross location.

Free Pass thought, why not make blood donation the reward? Their Facebook Page gives potential donors a ‘Free Pass’ to download, which gives them 'permission' to take the hour or so that it takes to donate blood out of their day, to do something they've been wanting to do (donate blood) but may feel like they can't do.



'Guilt' campaigns are relatively prolific in the social marketing sector, so they decided to approach the target audience as adults and say "yes, life is busy, we know you want to make a difference but it's hard to find the time. We're here to help, and we'll even give you the Free Pass to do it."

Using the channels of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to deliver their fun and informative messages to help encourage friends, followers and viewers to donate blood, they have built an international following.
Stay in touch with them to hear about mobile blood donation locations, relevant news, information about blood donation, and share how you used the Free Pass to make a difference, and did something special.

Booking an appointment with the Australian Red Cross Blood Service is one of the easiest ways to donate blood in Australia. Visit their website for more information.

We always talk about how we want to change the world and while that is an extremely noble idea, it’s a big task to take on. Start small, start local but start change. You could save a life. Or someone may save yours.