Oxford tea store brews up support for people with blood cancer

Oxford tea store brews up support for people with blood cancer

• Bird & Blend partner with blood cancer charity DKMS
• Stem cell donor registration event at Oxford store, 13 September

  To mark Blood Cancer Awareness month in September, staff at Bird & Blend’s Oxford store will not only be inviting customers to sample their 100+ loose leaf tea blends, they’ll be giving hope to people with blood cancers or disorders who need a stem cell transplant – by helping sign up potential new donors to the stem cell register. It’s simple and painless and can be done in the time you’d brew and drink a cuppa!

They’ve teamed up with blood cancer charity DKMS to organise a special stem cell donor registration event:

Date: Saturday 13 September 2025

Time: 1000 – 1600

Venue: Bird & Blend, 23 High Street, Oxford OX1 4AH (Just outside – the Covered Market.)

Every 14 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer, but only a tiny proportion of the eligible population in the UK is currently on the stem cell donor register. So, there is an urgent need for more people to sign up – especially from UK ethnic minorities, who are currently underrepresented on the register. Blood cancer charity DKMS registers people aged 17-55 and in general good health: it takes less than ten minutes – some painless mouth swabs and a few health questions.

This Oxford donor registration event is part of tea traders Bird & Blend’s wider support for DKMS and its mission to ensure that everyone who needs a stem cell transplant has equal access to one. Across July to September, DKMS has been chosen as their 'ChariTEA of the Quarter’. They’ve been helping raise awareness of stem cell donation, and proceeds from every online purchase of their Jasmine Poached Pears tea blend is going to DKMS. (To purchase a pouch, visit bit.ly/jasmine-poached-pears-tea)

DKMS spokesperson Deborah Hyde says: "We’re so grateful to Bird & Blend’s Oxford team for their support, and we’d love as many people as possible in the Oxford area to get involved on 13 September. By registering as a donor, you’re giving hope to patients who are relying on the stem cell register to find a compatible donor. Signing up could give them a second chance at life, and if you were matched with someone needing a transplant, in nine out of ten cases donating stem cells is a simple, outpatient process similar to donating blood platelets.”

"We're over the moon that our ChariTEA of the Quarter, DKMS, are joining us at our Oxford store on the 13th September to register potential donors with their quick and easy swab kit. Through fundraising and community events, we're proud to partner with DKMS to help fight blood cancer." Mike Turner, our co-founder.

• Anyone unable to attend the event at Bird & Blend’s Oxford store can request a swab kit online at dkms.org.uk/Bird&Blend

Things you didn't know about blood cancer:

1. Blood cancers are the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK.

2. Every year, nearly 13,000 people die from blood cancer in the UK.

3. At any one time there are around 2,000 people in the UK in need of a stem cell transplant.