As well as celebrating her 65th birthday, this lady is marking her 50th blood donation.

Angela Boyd, who lives in Bradpole, has given blood 50 times and just in time for her 65th birthday. The generally accepted age for giving blood in the UK is between 17 and 66.

Angela move to Bridport from Kent in 1997 and her daughter, Fiona, recalls her giving blood at Bridport United Church, as well as more recently at Bridport Leisure Centre.

But it all started quite by chance when she only went to support a friend giving blood when she was a teenager.

Fiona said: “She started giving blood at aged 18 when she went along with her friend to give moral support and ended up donating herself.

“She took a break from it when having her children and then returned and continued to donate. She has O negative blood so it can be given to anyone in emergency situations.

“She is very proud to reach the achievement of 50 blood donations, knowing she has helped so many people. He was starting to worry for a little while that lockdown may prevent her from giving her last donation as she was also celebrating her 65th birthday on June 16 so she is really glad she was able to make her last donation her 50th donation.”

Angela is also encouraging people who may not have thought about giving blood to give it a go.

She said: “It really is such an amazing feeling knowing that you can save lives just by giving up less than an hour of your time.”