People often moan about those that appear on Reality type shows saying that all they are after is the fame and fortune that goes with these competitions, leading to so many youngsters only aspiring to be a celebrity or famous.
This stereotype was completely blown out of the water by the Band “B Positive” who have been competing on the ITV show Britain’s Got Talent. The band is made up from people that include blood donors and blood recipients, people who have blood related medical conditions such as sickle cell, as well as families, friends and people who work with blood. The band formed in 2017 and sang Rise Up at the MOBO awards.
They have been using their exposure to try and encourage people to sign up to donate their blood and they are hoping that their appearances will raise awareness and encourage thousands of people to do so.
Sickle cell disease mainly affects people of African, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, Eastern Mediterranean and Asian origin. In the UK, it’s particularly common in people with an African or Caribbean family background. People with sickle cell disease produce unusually shaped red blood cells that can cause problems because they don’t live as long as healthy blood cells and they can become stuck in blood vessels. Sickle cell disease is a serious and lifelong condition, although long-term treatment can help manage many of the problems associated with it.
It is important that people from all ethnicities and blood groups donate blood as each type of blood is equally as important as the other types. Certain blood types often prove harder to get donors from and it is this stigma that the B Positive choir are hoping to change.
Although B Positive did not make it through to the final initially, they were selected as “the Wild Card” finalist. They are hoping that as Simon Cowell has leant his voice to the campaign their message will be heard and built upon.