EACH day over 6,000 pints of blood are needed to meet hospital demand.

Written down in black and white it may seem a formidable statistic, but there is a simple solution to meet that demand.

Volunteers can donate a pint of their blood every 16 weeks at sessions in centres across England and North Wales, according to the NHS.

With each pint, the rough equivalent of one unit of blood, as many as three patients can benefit.

For paramedics and doctors it is an invaluable necessity that saves countless lives.

In January this year, the Great North Air Ambulance become one of only a few air ambulances in the world to carry blood for roadside blood transfusions.

For the first time in the North of England, blood transfusions became available outside a hospital.

Most people between the ages of 17 and 70 can step up to the plate to donate their platelets, but in Northumberland fewer than four in 1,000 of those in the eligible age bracket have come forward as new volunteers in the last year.

The problem is not confined to Northumberland; in England and North Wales as a whole, figures show that only four per cent of adults give blood.

NHS Blood and Transplant has said that 204,000 new volunteers need to come forward this year across England and North Wales to keep the nation’s blood stocks at a safe level for the future.

Fortunately, some are heeding that call.

Last year, 816 new volunteers came forward to donate blood for the first time in Northumberland, with 6,246 people in the county donating blood at least once last year.

Two of Tynedale’s most prolific blood donors have been attending sessions since they were 18-years-old; they are now both 70.

Bellingham twin brothers Hugh and Howard Thompson have donated over 100 pints of blood each in the past 52 years.

For Hugh, donating is just part of his normal routine and he cannot understand why more people don‘t come forward to do the same.

“We were just sitting in the village one Sunday and heard there was a blood donor thing on. It was curiosity the first time and we’ve done it ever since,” he explained.

“It’s just become a habit and as long as I’m fit enough to give it, I’ll give it and it is going to help someone.

“There’s absolutely nothing to it. I know some people are scared of needles, but there’s no need to be. It’s like a scratch then it’s over.

“I’ll just going on giving until I can’t do it anymore.”

So if you want to give blood, where does an eager donor go?

First of all you can make a few checks yourself to see if you are eligible (see our fact file for a few examples).

The NHS Blood and Transplant website can tell you where your nearest donation centre and session is for a drop-in or appointment.

Once there, as a new donor you have to go through a health check and then a blood check, which is done in private.

A tiny prick of the needle in your finger is all it takes to test the blood to check you are clear to donate.

It normally takes five to 10 minutes for your blood donation to be collected and usually involves a cuff being placed around the arm and inflated to make the veins easier to access.

The arm is then cleaned and a sterile needle inserted into a vein and held in place with tape while approximately 470ml (just under a pint) of blood is taken, around 10 per cent of an adult’s blood supply.

Almost half of this is water (about 55 per cent of blood is comprised of plasma, of which 90 per cent is water) so donors are advised to drink at least 500ml of water just before and immediately after donating.

If you so wish, you can then give blood again in another 16 weeks - 12 for men - to give your body time to replace the red blood cells.

Since it is such a simple process, NHS Blood and Transplant is trying to find out why potentially eligible adults are not coming forward to donate blood.

In a 2015 survey, when asked asked why they don’t give blood, the top three replies from respondents were: l Knowing it’s a good thing to do but not getting around to it (27 per cent) l A fear of needles (22 per cent) l Health problems so they don’t believe they are eligible to donate (21 per cent)

In contrast, 86 per cent of respondents who had given blood felt the experience was as expected or easier than they expected it to be.

There are still a number of misconceptions about donating blood.

Almost half the people who responded to the survey believed the NHS asked friends and family to donate when a patient needed blood and 13 per cent thought synthetic blood was created to meet the national demand.

But that is far from the case, with the vital donations being used in a wide range of circumstances to help patients up and down the country everyday.

More than 25 per cent of us will need donated blood during our lifetime and the donations are essential to replace red cells due to blood loss in accidents - a single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood – surgery, after childbirth or just to help improve the quality of life in situations where there is no cure.

Blood can also be subdivided into its main components - red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma – which treat anything from cancer, burns and rabies to rheumatoid arthritis.

Sadly, everything has a shelf life: red cells last up to 35 days while platelets last only seven days, but fresh plasma can be kept frozen for up to 18 months.

Blood comes in four main types – A, B, AB and O, which is in the most demand as it is the most common, while O negative is the most requested by hospitals, as it can be safely given to anyone.

B type blood is the most rare, with only two per cent of the population being that type.

During National Blood Week last week, NHS Blood and Transplant removed the letters A, O and B to raise awareness of the need for new donors of all blood types.

This ‘Missing Type’ campaign highlighted the fact that if not enough new people donate blood and the ‘types’ go missing in years to come, there won’t be enough blood available when patients need it.

Assistant director Jon Latham said: “We simply can’t ignore the fact that there has been a stark reduction in the number of new donors coming forward – a trend seen across the world.

“While we can meet the needs of patients now, it’s important we strengthen the donor base for the future.

“If we don’t attract new people across England and North Wales to donate, it will put more pressure on the ability to provide the right type of blood the NHS needs for patients in the future.

“Giving blood is simple and easy to do and will only take about an hour of your time. It could literally be a matter of life and death for somebody else.”