THEY were out on the streets after your blood last week. Seasoned blood donors were in Huntingdon High Street in a mega recruitment drive, on Wednesday. Their challenge was for Cambridgeshire Blood Transfusion Service to gain a greater number of new dono

THEY were out on the streets after your blood last week.

Seasoned blood donors were in Huntingdon High Street in a mega recruitment drive, on Wednesday.

Their challenge was for Cambridgeshire Blood Transfusion Service to gain a greater number of new donors than Oxfordshire during the week leading up to the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, which took place on the Thames on Saturday.

Cambridge won but in the blood stakes, the Cambridgeshire team, which visited Peterborough, Huntingdon and Cambridge, signed up 84 new donors, but were not so fortunate.

They were beaten by the Oxford team, which went to Banbury, Bicester and Oxford and enlisted 92 people.

Cambridgeshire team leader Gareth Bell said this was the first time the contest had been organised but it had been so successful it could become an annual event.

Among those recruiting in Huntingdon High Street was Becky Graham, 27, from Cambridge, a platelet donor who has so far given eight pints of blood, Pat Jones, 53, from Godmanchester, who has been giving blood since she was 18, and Derek Carr, 33, from Godmanchester, assistant marketing officer for the Blood Service, who has so far given 12 pints.