Meet Nigerian Lady Who Received Young Leaders Award From The Queen of England

Bukola Bolarinwa, 28 year old from Lagos, has received the Queens Young Leaders Award from the Queen of England in recognition of her work encouraging thousands of new people to give blood.

Bukola was born with Sickle Cell Disease.

After noticing the chronic shortage of blood faced by people living with Sickle Cell who need regular transfusions, she joined the Sickle Cell Aid Foundation (SCAF) in 2010 to help raise awareness about the importance of giving blood. She began a monthly campaign drive in partnership with the National Blood Transfusion Service to try to ensure a regular supply of donated blood, and to help combat cultural fears about giving blood.

In 2015, Bukola set up Haima Health Initiative (http://ift.tt/2tu22Pr ) an online blood donation register which asks young people to register to donate blood in emergency situations. During its first year, the register has gained more than 1,000 prospective donors and, through the use of social media and text messaging, linked over 500 donors with patients in urgent need of blood. Bukola is currently working to recruit 5,000 people as registered blood donors by December 2017.

A legal practitioner in Nigeria, Bukola is a graduate of law from the University of Leicester, England with a Masters in International Economic Law from the Univesity of Warwick.

Bukola is a 2016 Future Awards Winner for Advocacy and Activism.

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