HE HAS reached the impressive milestone of donating his 100th pint of blood, but a dedicated Basingstoke grandfather shows no sign of slowing down.

Chris Beadle, of Harvest Way, Lychpit donated his 100th pint of blood at Carnival Hall, Basingstoke last Tuesday after being a blood donor for 43 years.

The 68-year-old was delighted with his milestone.

He told The Gazette: “It is quite an achievement. I do feel proud that I have been able to be part of it.

“It got to the stage where I got into the ‘90s and I thought I am going to keep this going and hope nothing goes wrong to stop me giving blood and then it got to number 99 and then I thought only another three months until 100.

“I tried to get onto the bone marrow register but my platelets were too low to do that.

“It is just so worthwhile – it doesn’t cost anything and doesn’t take too much time.”

Chris first donated blood in 1972, when he was just 25 years old and has returned every three months since.

He said: “My wife, who I was courting back in 1972, and some of her friends, when they were working in Winchester, decided to go and give blood and she came out and told me about it so I thought I would do it and I have been doing it ever since.

“There have been a lot of changes over the years.

“The method is the same but now you have to drink a lot of water before and when you arrive there are fruit juices, lemonade and squash to drink.”

And the grandfather-of-two said that he will carry on donating blood until he is 70.

Chris, who is an O positive blood type, added: “It is no problem at all.

“It takes half an hour from actually giving blood to having a cup of tea.

“It doesn’t take any time, it doesn’t hurt and it does a lot of good (for people).”

According to new figures released by NHS Blood and Transplant on June 5, there were 40 per cent fewer donors in 2014/15 compared to 2004/5.

The body estimates that 204,000 new volunteers need to come forward this year to keep the nation’s blood stocks at a safe level for the future.

Regular donations are crucial to saving and improving the lives of patients with cancer, blood disorders and those suffering medical trauma or undergoing surgery.

Most people can give blood, although there are several checks that need to take place before people can donate. Reasons for not being able to give blood include heart conditions and having had a tattoo in the past four months.

Male donors can give blood every 12 weeks and female donors every 16. For more information, visit blood.co.uk