TRAGIC entertainer Joe Longthorne is urging the Fylde coast to help save lives by lending his support to the area's first bone marrow donor clinic.

The clinic - which is being organised by the Anthony Nolan Trust - is set to be run at the Emmanuel Church, Lofthouse Way, Fleetwood, from 3.30pm to 8.30pm on Thursday 19th August.

As reported in The Citizen (July 22), the 49-year-old Blackpool-based singer has already appealed for people to join the trust's bone marrow donor register after learning his only chance of beating the deadly blood disorder, leukaemia, is to undergo a stem-cell transplant.

With more than 6,000 people being diagnosed with the condition in the UK each year, the chances of finding a suitable donor for the Hull-born entertainer - who has battled serious health problems since being diagnosed with lymphoma in 1989 - are slim.

But agent, Tony Jo, claims Joe is only concerned with boosting the profile of the register.

Tony said: "To be perfectly blunt the chances of Joe finding a donor for himself are ten million to one.

"But it just shows the measure of the man that, despite his own life-threatening predicament, he is putting all his energy into using his image to find donors for others.

"All Joe is concerned about is making sure as many people as humanly possible are aware of bone marrow donation and giving other patients a shot at the future."

A trust spokeswoman said: "We're very pleased that Joe is supporting our drive to recruit more donors but the event is not just about getting more names on the register.

"We feel that it is just as important to raise awareness of the process of bone marrow donation.

"If we can get even just a handful of people to go away and consider becoming a donor, or discuss what they've learned with another person, then we'll have taken a huge step towards increasing the donor register.

"People have from the age of 18 to 60 to actually sign up. Many of them may never actually be called upon to donate because it's very difficult to match a donor with a patient.

"But just by having more people's details on our files we are potentially giving life to millions of blood disorder sufferers throughout the UK and the world."

Volunteers joining the Anthony Nolan Trust Register must be aged between 18 to 40 years, in good general health, weigh over eight stone and be willing to donate stem cells or bone marrow to any patient they may match, at any time.

Only a small blood sample is required to join the register and, if found to be a match, the donor can choose whether to donate stem cells from the bone marrow or from the blood stream.

For further information about the donor clinic contact the Anthony Nolan Trust on 0901 88 22234 or log on to www.anthonynolan.org.uk