A man whose cancer-stricken wife has been given blood transfusions has organised blood donating session at his workplace as a way of saying thank you to the blood service.

Robert Dennison, pictured, a systems manager for the Bradford & Bingley, has persuaded at least 130 employees to give vital blood supplies during the donor session.

It will be held by the National Blood Service in the directors' suite at the bank's Crossflatts headquarters on Thursday.

Father-of-two Mr Dennison, 35, for the Bradford & Bingley, hopes donor sessions will now be held regularly at the offices.

His wife Diane, 34, has been receiving treatment at Leeds General Infirmary since being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphona a fortnight after the birth of their youngest son Jacob two years ago.

Mr Dennison, a former Buttershaw Upper School student and a member of West Bowling Rugby Club, said: "She's had fantastic treatment and must have received 20 or 30 units of blood in transfusions to build her back up after the chemotherapy.

"Now we're now keeping our fingers crossed.

"Seeing the amount of blood they get through just brings it home to you how important donors are and I just wanted to do something to try and help make a difference.

"We didn't have any donor sessions at work but I'd heard about it being done elsewhere so decided to organise one here as a way of giving something back, saying thank you and highlighting the importance of giving blood.

"They can only accommodate 130 donors during the day but that many people put their name down in a single afternoon. Now we have a waiting list so we're talking to the blood service to see if we can add a few more to the list.''

Mr Dennison, of Tingley, who will be giving blood for the first time on Thursday, added: "There's been a fantastic response from staff and now it's established hopefully we can set it up as a regular thing.''

Ian Ashe, regional donor marketing administrator for the National Blood Service, said: "Robert has put a lot of effort into this - it's great when people do things like this and fantastic that firms like the Bradford & Bingley allow their staff to do it.

"We need to collect 2,960 units of blood each week in this region, which is an awful lot. Many people just think the blood is used for people who have lost blood in traffic accidents but it's needed for all sorts of other people, such as cancer sufferers and burns victims.''

l Anyone wanting to organise similar events or find out more about giving blood should call the national helpline on 0845 7711 711 or regional office on (0113) 214 8608.