A MESSAGE conveying the "incredibly unique and wonderful gift" of organ donation hit the road this week to get more people on board.

Four buses that travel routes around Northern Care Alliance NHS Group hospitals, including Royal Oldham, feature key organ donation messages to encourage the people to think about joining the NHS Organ Donor Register.

The initiative to get people talking about their organ donation wishes and to share their decision with their loved ones support Organ Donation week which runs until September 9.

The 'On the Buses' campaign is a year-long initiative supported by NHS Blood and Transplant which contributed the artwork for the campaign.

The Pennine Acute Organ Donation Committee came up with the idea to use buses because they reach a wide and diverse audience, including bus passengers, drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.

Kathryn Alletson, specialist nurse for organ donation at The Northern Care Alliance NHS Group said: “We hope that the public will see the adverts and chat with their families and friends about organ donation and whether they would like to become an organ donor. Telling your family what your wishes are in life can make honouring your wishes easier for your family when you die; words save lives.

“It is an incredibly unique and wonderful gift to help others lead healthy and fulfilled lives after your death.”

Dr Andrew Drummond, Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine at The Northern Care Alliance NHS Group said:

“We are very good at supporting potential donors at the end of their lives and we encourage patients to consider organ donation as part of their end of life care in our hospitals. It makes the decision to donate an organ far easier for grieving relatives if patients have already discussed this with their families first."

Dr Anton Sinniah, divisional clinical director for medicine at The Northern Care Alliance NHS Group, said: “We are trying to encourage starting the conversation about organ donation so that good can come out of tragic circumstances. We know already how Manchester residents come together and support each other, and this is another opportunity for us to show how we can make a real difference to others with chronic health problems.

"We hope that people who see our adverts think about them and then talk to their relatives. Be part of something big and be part of something special.”

In the North West there are around 260 people waiting for a transplant and there are 920,000 people on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

Around 6,000 people across the UK are waiting for an organ transplant and three people a day die in need of a transplant due to a shortage of people being willing to donate organs.

Over 34,000 people joined the NHS Organ Donor Register during Organ Donation Week 2017, a huge testament to the work that took place all across the country to get people talking about organ donation, and supporting the cause.

You can join the NHS Organ Donor Register now at www.organdonation.nhs.uk.

It only takes a few minutes to register and remember to tell your family that you want them to support your decision to donate and save lives.

You can get involved on Twitter using the hashtags #YesIDonate, #wordssavelifes, #organdonationweek,

#yesIdonate.

For more information go to www.organdonation.nhs.uk.