#PassItOnLeicester: Make Leicester A Lifesaving City

- A specially designed flag will be passed between 31 local organisations to spread the message

- Filbert Fox received the flag from Beauchamp College on Friday and will 'Pass It On' at half time against Arsenal

The LCFC Foxes Foundation is delighted to lend its support to Pass It On – a campaign aimed at mobilising the Leicester community to address the issues of blood cancer through stem cell donation. 

September is Blood Cancer Awareness month and the entire city is getting behind the registration drive in the form of 31 organisations that are determined to ‘Pass It On’. 

Being a stem cell donor is a chance to be someone’s hero and to raise awareness of this, each of the 31 local organisations will be passing on a special campaign flag – one of which will be in a half-time parade at this Saturday’s game. 

The flag, which was collected by Filbert Fox from Beauchamp College on Friday, is a part of a relay that will eventually be handed over to the Leicester Royal Infirmary Bone Marrow Transplant Unit on 30 September – hopefully with plenty more potential people having joined the donation register. 

has run over 200 registration drives to date and the LCFC Foxes Foundation will be helping get the message out to even more people with a host of activities at the game. 

Leicester City legend Emile Heskey said:“Last year I was lucky enough to attend the donor drive with Rik Basra in Leicester, when over 1,000 local people signed up to the Anthony Nolan register in one day. It was an amazing example of what can be achieved if we all come together and I felt so proud of our lifesaving city. 

“That’s why I’m so excited to hear about Rik’s new Pass it On campaign, which is even more ambitious than last year. Every corner of the Leicestershire community has got behind it and I hope this inspires a new generation of lifesavers.” 

Former Fox Gary Lineker added:“Rik Basra and the charity Anthony Nolan are doing fantastic work to tackle blood cancer in Leicester and Leicestershire. Now it’s up to us to help raise awareness of the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register and how easy it is to join. Together, we can all be Leicester lifesavers by signing up and spreading the word – so pass it on! 

“There are so many myths surrounding bone marrow, or stem cell, donation. It isn’t a painful or invasive procedure - it’s improved so much that now in the vast majority of cases it’s just like giving blood, but sadly awareness has lagged behind. Trust me, I’ve had more painful tackles in my career!” 

Amazingly, the people of Leicestershire come second only to London in the number of registrations for stem cell recruitment in the UK, and if you’re aged 16-30, you can join the register too. 

To join the register, you must be aged between 16 and 30, weigh more than 7st 12lbs (50kgs) and be in general good health. For more information about our work or to sign up online, please visit . 

For more information of how to get involved in the #PassItOnLeicester campaign go to .