Dozens of local residents recently responded to an appeal for people to get tested to see if they could be a match for a young boy who needs a bone marrow transplant.

Oscar Saxelby Lee is just five years old and is currently being treated at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. He was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia just after Christmas and there is a race against time to find a life-saving stem cell donor quickly.

His Great Aunt, Mandy Robinson, who lives in Ross, has been appealing for people to contact the Anthony Nolan Trust to get a swab kit and she was overwhelmed by the response to her appeal for local people to collect swab kits from the Prince of Wales pub in Ross and at her workplace, Brockhampton Court.

Oscar lives in Worcester and his family and friends there organised a special swab testing day at his school, Pitmaston Primary School and a recordbreaking number of people turned up for this.

Now a family friend is organising another push to get more people to take a swab, this time students who attend Hereford and Ludow College.

Lin Forward is holding a campaign day on March 27th at the Hereford and Ludlow College to recruit as many 16-30 year olds as possible to register with the Anthony Nolan Trust and submit a mouth swap on the day.

The swabs will be tested and anyone identified as a potential match will be contacted.

Lin told the Ross Gazette: “This will not only help poor Oscar but the many people who are diagnosed every day with blood cancer here in the UK.”

A crowdfunding page which was set up to support Oscar’s parents while they are spending so much of their time with Oscar at the hospital has already smashed the target set of £5,000. Donations currently stand at £9,837.

Anyone can go online to register, if you are over 30 please visit dkms.org.uk or for those under 30 visit anthonynolan.org and these organisations will send you a swabbing kit to your home, it is quick and easy to do.