I do love the strong lines and the fun lighting of the roof at Kings Cross Station.
The last red thing I saw hung up here was a massive Remembrance Poppy…
… and this month it’s a bag of blood!
It isn’t all that big but it stands out; I spotted it even as I walked through the main entrance. It certainly attracts attention and serves as a strong reminder of the importance of donating if we can.
The Blood Transfusion Service is a vital medical service and in the UK it depends entirely on voluntary donations. I was amazed to find out just how far back the history of transfusion goes.
–Richard Lower performed the first known successful transfusion, on an animal, in 1666 – hopefully London wasn’t burning at the time;
–By 1818 Dr James Blundell was using it to save women suffering from hemorrhaging after childbirth;
–In 1921 the first voluntary donations service began when Red Cross members donated blood at Kings College Hospital;
–In 1936 the world’s first blood bank opened in the United States, at Cook County Hospital, Chicago;
–The following year the first British blood bank opened in Ipswich;
–In Britain, the National Blood Service launched in 1946, two years before the National Health Service was set up.
More than 60 years later, the Blood Service is just as important as it was then. You can learn more at Blood.co.uk, including its stock levels and details of any current appeals for particular blood types.
Linked to One Word Photo Challenge: Red and Ruby Tuesday.
Travel with Intent 
You have a sharp eye!
Cemetery Sand & Red
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Great way to promote things.
Blood donation is really life saver. I’ve ever suffered very low Hb. I needed eight times of blood transfusion to reach normal Hb level.
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I think I would have liked the poppy better. Still, the frame and lighting are great fun.
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What a perfect Ruby Tuesday post, highlighting the importance of blood donations, something every able bodied person should make part of his or her gift to the well being of man.
My ruby post is a bowl of New Orleans crawfish!
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If everyone who donated got a bowl of that numbers would go up!
Sent from my iPhone
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hi Debbie great fascinating and informative post. Great lighting and the red bag certainly does stand out.
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It’s a very clever PR idea.
On Fri, Mar 21, 2014 at 9:13 PM, Travel with Intent wrote:
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You have such a great eye for these little wonders Debbie and you’ve captured it so well! Great way of the Blood Donating Services to promote it. Here hubby donates blood regularly and this year he received a big and beautiful red towel as a thank you present from them. Because of my yuppie flu (CFIDS) I may not donate and I admire the ones who can. 😀
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The bag does definitely stand out. And I love the lighting in these. Thanks for sharing and for including some history 🙂
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