Poles in UK plan mass blood donation to offset Polish workers' strike
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
11.08.2015 10:03
Over 1,000 Poles in the UK are set to donate blood in British clinics as a counterbalance to an unofficial strike planned by their compatriots for 20 August.
The Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London. Photo: wikipedia/G.Maclean
The UK's Independent newspaper claims that more Poles have now signed up to give blood on 20 August than the several hundred expected to protest outside the Houses of Parliament that day.
The unofficial strike is designed as a protest against the perceived stigmatisation of immigrants, who demonstrators say have been blamed for Britain's economic problems.
Many participants in the strike are set to sport t-shirts with a succinct English slogan: 'Enough! Stop blaming us.'
However, George Byczynski, coordinator of the British Poles Initiative that is leading the #Polishblood campaign, believes that the unofficial strike could be counter-productive, whereas the alternative action could strengthen relations between Britons and Poles.
The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK has welcomed the Polish initiative. Overall, it is seeking 204,000 new blood donors this year to replace those who are no longer able to donate.
The 2011 UK census found that close to 600,000 Poles were living in Britain at that time. The main exodus occurred after Poland joined the EU in 2004. (nh/rk)