A BOLTON endeavour will - literally - bring life-blood to an Indian community.

The Rotary Club of Bolton's president, retired Royal Bolton Hospital ENT surgeon Nath Mahindrakar, has made the provision of a blood bank in India the chosen charitable cause of his year of office.

With his presidency up in June, he is busily trying to raise the final £5,000 of the £14,000 needed for the project. That sum, matched by a grant from the Rotary Foundation Centre in America, will mean the gift of life in Dharwad in the Karnataka State of India where Nath, one of 13 children, was born.

The idea for the bank originated during a visit by him to Dharwad in November, 1996, and a meeting with the relatively new Rotary Club of Dharwad Mid Town members. The town is a large one, with a university and a population, like Bolton, of some 260,000. It has two hospitals, but no blood bank. The nearest one is 15 miles away over rough terrain, and is a private commercial (profit orientated) bank where blood is bought in from poor people and, often, not tested for HIV or syphilis.

Nath explained that the business of obtaining blood from relatives loses vital time in saving lives.

The Bolton effort is to equip the blood bank which will be administered by a trust formed by the young and enthusiastic members of the Dharwad Rotarians.

Equipment needed includes a microscope, centrifuge machine, air conditioner, blood analyser, large refrigerator, steriliser, blood testing equipment and chemicals, furniture and fittings.

The bank will be based at the very reputable charitable hospital, Our Lady of Lourdes, which has been run by Italian nuns for 40 years.

It is hoped that the bank will progress from providing ten pints of blood a day to, eventually, serving a huge population. And there should be no shortage of donors - the students of Dharwad University have shown a great willingness to give blood, and an education programme will make the procedure familiar to schools and groups. A register of donors is already being drawn up.

Nath is grateful to the very many people who are helping with the fund raising; a coffee morning raised £400; his medical colleagues in Bolton donated £1,000; the Asian community has already given £1,000, and there have been donations from pharmaceutical companies, Bolton School and Beaumont Hospital.

American Rotarians have made substantial donations and other local Rotary Clubs have also contributed. A London company, Nexus, donated £266 to the effort - instead of sending out Christmas cards.

On March 14 there will be musical evening in the Central Library's theatre, and in June there will be a sponsored walk around Turton (Nath will be walking, too). A strawberry and cream tea is also planned.

Nath said: "The people of Bolton have been very generous in supporting and contributing to the fund. We still have £5,000 to find and if anyone would like to know more about the project in Dharwad, they can write to me at the Rotary Club of Bolton's headquarters, c/o Smithills Restaurant, Smithills Dean Road, Bolton.

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