IN his famous comedy sketch, Tony Hancock protested to his doctor that donating a pint of blood equated to “very nearly an armful.”

“I don’t mind giving a reasonable amount,” he said.

Blood donations today are actually measured in units – one unit being about half a pint.

When you consider that York Hospital alone gets through 10,000 units of blood every year, then by using Hancock’s reckoning, that is a lot of armfuls.

When you also think of how many other hospitals there are in the region, or indeed the whole country, all demanding blood, you can see why the NHS is constantly reminding us of the need to donate.

Tomorrow is World Blood Donor Day, which the NHS is using to highlight its own week- long campaign to get people to give blood, starting today.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) hopes to encourage an extra 10,000 of us to “make a date to donate” during this week.

It’s going to be tough job because 96 per cent of the population relies on the four per cent who regularly donate. It’s one of those things in life you always mean to do but just never get round to.

Jo Buckton, a 36-year-old wife and mother from York, is a perfect example of why we should finally get round to a attending a donor session.

In 2007, out of the blue, she was diagnosed with leukaemia. Now given the all-clear, her experiences and the care she received have inspired her to become a champion for blood donation.

“It was four years ago and Jake was only eight months old, so I was really tired but didn’t think anything of it,” she says. “I also had flu-like symptoms and bruises on my arms.

“Then I went to a concert and I came home with bruises all over my legs and that’s when I went to my GP.”

The visit to her doctor marked the start of six months of grueling chemotherapy followed by two years of treatment in tablet form.

“The six months were intensive and I lost my hair and a lot of weight and it really took its toll on me,” she remembers.

“I had quite a few transfusions through that fist year and they basically saved my life. I wouldn’t have survived if people hadn’t donated their blood. That’s what kept me alive at the time.”

Despite being given the all- clear in 2007, Jo is still on three-monthly blood tests.

Since recovering she has begun working for Anthony Nolan (formerly the Anthony Nolan Trust), putting her skills as a training manager to good use.

“I started volunteering in 2009 and then took a full-time position in July last year. I go into schools, colleges and sixth forms and give young people the facts about blood, stem cell and organ donation and we tell them how they can register.

“Once they have listened to some of our case studies they can see that donating is only minimal discomfort but it could save someone’s life.”

A spokesman for York Hospital said: “It’s vitally important that people continue to give blood so that we can continue to provide lifesaving support and treatment to patients who rely on blood donations.”

For more information on how you can donate, visit blood.co.uk or phone 0300 123 2323 to make an appointment.