A CANCER charity is encouraging Worcestershire residents to register as potential blood stem cell donors this Valentine's Day to see if they could be someone's lifesaving match.

Donor recruitment charity, Delete Blood Cancer UK, says that while many people search for a romantic match for February 14, around 1,800 people in the UK with blood cancer are searching for someone with matching tissue type who could help save their life by donating some of their blood stem cells to them.

In Worcester, 909 people are registered as potential blood stem cell donors with the charity, but the charity are calling on more to register.

For many blood cancer patients their only chance of survival is to find a blood stem cell donation from another person.

Tragically in some cases a tissue type of a person could match a patient’s, but this match would not be discovered as they have not registered as a potential blood stem donor.

Jenny Clegg, from Delete Blood Cancer UK, said: “You could find your perfect match in more ways than one this Valentine’s Day.

"Registering online as a potential blood stem cell donor only takes a few minutes, but it could lead to you giving decades to someone else."

Registration takes five minutes online, requesting a cheek swab kit that enables a tissue test to become a potential blood stem cell donor.

To register visit deletebloodcancer.org.uk.