Beverley De-Gale recognised for ACLT campaign

IT has been a long and tireless fight for Beverley De-Gale in her quest to get more people from the Black, mixed raced and minority ethnic communities to become blood and bone marrow donors.

De-Gale is the co-founder of the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) along with partner Orin Lewis back in 1996 and fifteen years later, it has been a driving force in increasing the number of people from the BME community on the UK bone marrow and blood donation registers.

ACLT was set up three years after De-Gale's son Daniel was diagnosed with leukaemia. He became the first Black person in the UK to receive a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor in 1999 but sadly died in October 2008 to an unrelated health illness.

ACLT recently held their annual Daniel De-Gale Blood Donation Week, taking place during Black history month.

Her selfless struggle and campaigning has seen De-Gale recognised for a number of accolades this month.

She was awarded an OBE from Princess Anne at Windsor Palace on October 4 for her work to increase donations for ethnic minorities. And last Friday (7), De-Gale was given a special inspirational award at the Inspirational Awards for Women event.

The awards celebrate the achievements of inspirational women from diverse backgrounds who have inspired a nation and projected positive images of women.

She said,

"My son Daniel is the inspiration behind the foundation of the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust 15 years ago, and continues to be so today. Daniel's passion for life in spite of his illness, gave me the drive to do the best I could to provide hope to leukaemia sufferers everywhere. I'm truly honoured to receive this award."

Picture: Beverley De-Gale