Team Red: Russell McVeagh

Donating blood is simple, it’s finding the time to do it that’s tricky. Kiwi law firm Russell McVeagh knows a thing or two about busy work days, and while there’s little wiggle room in their schedules at times, there are big hearts in their firm. In an effort to help save lives, they signed up to New Zealand Blood Service’s (NZBS) Team Red and now donate blood on company time.

Widely regarded as New Zealand’s premier law firm, Russell McVeagh employs approximately 350 staff and partners across its Auckland and Wellington offices. Auckland-based Senior Solicitor Hamish is a long-time blood donor, and in order to facilitate blood donations in such a fast-paced work environment, he started a bi-annual blood drive for his entire building three years ago.

“Donating blood is an easy way to contribute positively to another person’s wellbeing and I like that each donation will inevitably improve someone's life”, says Hamish.

 “It’s just difficult to schedule time out to donate, so I thought it’d be easier to set up a blood drive for our building and provide our colleagues the opportunity to pop out for 30 minutes and make a quick and easy donation instead.”

Upon learning NZBS’s Team Red strives to do the exact same thing, Hamish didn’t hesitate to start up his own at work in July of this year and has since ensured to incorporate it into their firm's culture.

 “Team Red is an initiative that facilitates group donations for businesses and Russell McVeagh is incredibly proud to support NZBS by getting involved with our very own Team Red”, says Hamish.

“NZBS staff often visit our firm for a Team Red induction whenever there’s a wave of new summer interns and graduates to motivate them to donate blood with our group. Also, as part of the initiative, NZBS provides us with an online profile to help track our Team Red donations and the equivalency of potential lives saved – it’s a massive boost for team spirits to see the impact we’re making as a team.”

While most staff to join Team Red at Russell McVeagh are first time donors, there are a few who like Hamish, have actually done it for a while.

“I started donating about 10 years ago”, says another Russell McVeagh team member.

“It’s so important for those of us who are healthy to help those who aren’t. A quick finger prick is bearable when you think about the fact that you could potentially be saving someone's life! I think Team Red is a great way to foster a sense of community for people within organisations – I would highly recommend it!”.

Lack of time certainly isn’t an issue for Russell McVeagh’s Team Red, with their collaborative efforts they’ve saved over 533 lives already. And with the end of the year just around the corner, their New Year’s resolution is to expand their Team Red to their Wellington office and continue saving lives well into 2019 and beyond.  

To find out more about how you can become a blood donor, click here or call 0800 GIVE BLOOD.