An award....

Today I went to the city with DH, to attend a 'Recognition of Donors Function' held by the Red Cross Bloodbank. DH was getting his 'recognition' because he has donated blood 150 times. That's such an achievement by him and we are all very proud . The donors at this ceremony were referred to as 'milestone donors' and it ranged from 50 donations upwards, generally in increments of 50 or 100.

We went to the city by train and arrived quite early. So we wandered around King George Square which was not far from the function venue, the Sofitel (the old Crest Hotel). King George Square was refurbished a few years ago now and Brisbane's residents were not really happy with it. It was originally a place dotted with shady trees and pleasant spots to sit, especially in the hot weather. The new square seemed to be a clone of Melbourne's federation square with a wide expanse of rock pavers and very little shade. Eventually, and reluctantly the Brisbane City Council has made some changes especially with shade areas. A fellow Brisbane blogger, Foto fantastic, has a great post about this square here as he examines the history as well as the present day of this city feature.

City Hall which overlooks King George Square

Looking across the square towards Adelaide st

A little bit of shade here; note the big screen TV tuned into the swimming at the Olympics

Looking north of the square towards the beautiful Albert St Uniting Church 

A statue to honour the Petrie family who were early pioneers and explorers of the settlement that became Brisbane 

These kangaroos are part of the Petrie sculpture piece

King George v, after whom the square is named

Finally I'll share some photos taken in the function room. We sat for close to 2 hours during which we watched audio visual presentations about the work of the Red Cross Blood Bank, we also heard from guest speakers, including people who were alive because of blood products provided by the Blood Bank using donations. Throughout the ceremony recipients of the awards came up  in their groups; starting with those who had made 50 donations. Then 100, 150, etc right up to one man called Max, who had donated 500 times! He started in 1965 and DH started in 1967. Max has been donating platelets which can be taken every 2 weeks unlike other blood products' donations which have about 12 weeks between donations. Having said that, 500  is still a brilliant achievement! I should mention here that people don't get paid in Australia for being blood donors; donors get a cuppa and some cheese and crackers...and sometimes a chocolate bar.

DH is just about to receive the award :-)

As well as the certificate, 'milestone donors' received a cute little clock

Now am I a donor? Sadly I was knocked back in my 20s because I took medication for hypertension. Then about 7 years ago I heard that they had relaxed the criteria. I rang and discussed it and found that I could be a donor...so I did...just the once :-(  Not long after it was discovered that I had developed unexplained anemia which is treated by iron infusions; and my doctor requested that I don't donate blood. Who knows though...with technology advancing it may be possible for me to donate some part of my blood...