I AM sorry to hear that Mrs Bacon has had a bad experience donating blood, and hope her negative experience won't put other people off (Blood donation is a draining experience, Readers' Letters, January 15).

I have been giving blood in Wigginton for a few years and find it a satisfying thing to do. There is an appointment system and if a queue has developed, the staff will tell you how long you will have to wait.

As Mrs Bacon says, there are a lot of safety checks and precautionary measures. Thank goodness! I'll certainly appreciate the safety measures if I'm ever in the position of receiving blood.

At Wigginton, all donors are interviewed behind screens and nurses don't shout anybody's age out to the whole room. Also, there isn't any loud background music (I can't remember if there's quiet music). All the staff are friendly and I'm sure would turn music down if asked to do so.

The first couple of times I gave blood, I was very nervous and the attendant sat and chatted with me, and by my third visit I felt relaxed about the procedure.

If you donate regularly, you receive a newsletter with all sort of facts about how blood is used. There are always a couple of stories from people whose lives have been saved by donors.

I can't think of a more useful way of spending an hour or two.

Mary Brandon, Clifton, York.