• Charles Sturt University’s 862 blood donations in 2020 inter-campus challenge helped save 2,500 lives
• Student and staff at Wagga Wagga topped with 349 donations
• Orange led the campus population proportion of donations with 14.77 per cent

In the 2020 Charles Sturt University Inter-campus Blood Donation Challenge, Wagga Wagga retained the title for ‘Most Donations’ and Orange retained the title for ‘Highest Donation Percentage’.

The annual Challenge ended on 30 June and Australian Red Cross Lifeblood advises the total of 862 Charles Sturt donations helped to save more than 2,500 lives.

Charles Sturt Director of External Engagement (Orange and Bathurst) Ms Julia Andrews said, “This is a wonderful outcome, especially in the context of the COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions that have applied during the Challenge period of the first half of 2020.

“With the nation’s focus on COVID-19, it is easy to forget that 29,000 Australians still need donated blood every week, regardless of the pandemic.

“The continuing generosity and effort of the University’s students and staff to maintain levels of blood donations, only slightly down on 2019 (886 donations), is testament to our embrace of the University’s ethos of ‘yindyamarra winhanganha’ – the wisdom of respectfully knowing how to live well in a world worth living in.

“I hope that our donors will continue to roll up their sleeves and donate to assist the Red Cross to meet patient demand.”

Find the nearest donation centre by using the Find-a-Centre function on the Australian Red Cross website.

Total Charles Sturt University donations: 862.

Campus totals and 2020 proportion of campus community:

Wagga Wagga – 349 = 9.32%

Bathurst – 165 = 5.83%

Port Macquarie – 100 = 12.9%

Albury-Wodonga – 105 = 6.09%

Orange – 96 = 14.77%

Dubbo – 19 = 7.28%

Goulburn – 11 = 2.59%

Regional Study Centres – 17 = N/A