For just one day, the main hall of Hanson School resembled a field hospital as pupils and staff lay on trolleys wired to machines and queued up for treatment.

But the specialist technical school in Swain House was not in the grip of an epidemic. Instead it was the first school in the North - and only the second in the country - to host a blood donor clinic on its premises.

And the innovative scheme to encourage youngsters to get into the habit of giving blood was deemed a huge success by the National Blood Service, pupils and staff, with about 150 sixth formers and teachers offering to donate up to 120 pints of blood.

Teacher Beryl Neale said she had no problems recruiting pupils to get involved.

"Two years ago, we had a big health fair for the sixth form when the blood donor service had a stall. They picked up a lot of interest from the students and subsequently got in touch to ask us what we thought about becoming donors.

"It just snowballed from there. It helps community feeling in the school and we're very impressed with the students."

Recruitment of schoolchildren has only been possible since the minimum age of giving blood was lowered to 17 just over a year ago, and 400 out of 1,500 Hanson pupils were eligible to donate.

NBS spokesperson Ian Ashe said it was vital to catch youngsters early as possible and that students normally found it difficult to find time to visit clinics.

"It's been exceptional," he said. "There are those who are willing to donate, but who don't have the time. Coming into the school like we are doing at Hanson is like opening the flood gates. And it has started the ball rolling - there are people who have heard about Hanson through the grapevine and we are getting phone calls nearly every day."

But he added that body piercing and tattooing, which prevents blood being given for 12 months, had meant some pupils had being turned away.

Eighteen-year-old Kirsty Smith is just one pupil who has been converted into a lifelong blood donor. Having never given blood before, she is now aiming for 50 pints and a gold badge.

"I was very nervous," she said. "I had registered before and I kept getting letters, but I was too scared to go. But once I was in school, I just thought I'd go for it."

Teachers will now be talking to the NBS about holding the donor event on an annual basis.

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