Donor family and recipient contact

• Please do not share any information that would make you personally identifiable
• Your correspondence will be read by a member of the Donor Family Care Service team, to check it doesn’t reveal identifiable information
• A photocopy will be kept on file for future reference

The specialist nurse involved in your care will also be able to help you in compiling a letter if you wish.

• Transplant recipients are told that correspondence is available to them
• If the recipients wish to receive your correspondence, it is forwarded in a separate envelope to be opened at their discretion

Please provide general information only, which may include:

• The first name of your loved one who donated
• Your relationship with your loved one
• Their interests or hobbies
• Something about your family, e.g. children, grandchildren
  (please do not include last names)
  
• Feel free to include information about your social life, hobbies, children or partner if you would like to

When closing your letter:

• Sign your first name only
• Do not put your address, city, phone number, e-mail address,
  the name of the hospital, or the date that your loved one
  died
  

Place your letter in an unsealed envelope and on a separate sheet of paper please write:

• Your full name
• The full name of your loved one
• The date of your loved one's donation
• The name of the hospital where your loved one died

Your correspondence should not contain any identifiable information, such as:

• Your surname
• Your address, or the name of your town or city
• Your place or company of work
• The name of the hospital where your loved one's donation took place

This is to ensure you are able to remain anonymous.

Maintaining confidentiality is of great importance as we do not want the privacy of the donor family or recipient to be compromised.

Please ensure that you treat any information you have about your recipient in strictest confidence. 

If you are planning to share news of your loved one’s donation on social media, please do not share the date of your loved one’s donation or the hospital details.

Donor family members Helen and Judy have kindly put together some guidance on writing to a recipient based on their own experiences.

Get tips on how to structure your letter

The letter you send will be read by a member of the Donor Family Care Service team. This is why you have been asked to send it in an unsealed envelope.

Upon receipt of the letter the Donor Family Care Service will forward your letter to the hospital or healthcare team caring for the recipient(s).

In some circumstances, the recipient(s) may not wish to receive your letter. This can be for a variety of personal reasons. In these cases, your letter will be retained by the team caring for them in case they wish to see it in the future. Should the recipient(s) wish to receive the letter, the team (as above) caring for them will forward your letter on to them.

You may or may not get a response from the recipient(s).

As explained above, sometimes recipients feel very overwhelmed by the transplant process. It may take them months, or even years to respond.

Should you wish to contact the specialist nurse or Donor Family Care Service for any further help please don't hesitate to get in touch.

The postal address for the team is:

Donor Family Care Service
NHS Blood and Transplant
14 Estuary Banks
Speke
Liverpool
L24 8RB

Please include the following details on a separate sheet of paper to your letter:

• Your loved one's full name
• Your loved one's date of birth
• The date of your loved one's donation
• The hospital where your loved one's donation took place

This information is not passed on beyond the Donor Family Care Service but is needed to match the correct records.

The email address for the Donor Family Care Service team is: donor.familycare@nhsbt.nhs.uk

If you are sending your letter by email, please send it as an attachment.

Please make sure you include the following details in the email itself:

• Your loved one's full name
• Your loved one's date of birth
• The date of your loved one's donation
• The hospital where your loved one's donation took place

This information is not passed on beyond the Donor Family Care Service but is needed to match the correct records.

There are many reasons why a recipient may not choose to write, and it is a very personal decision.

They may choose to write years after your loved one’s donation, or may just never find the words.

Some donor families choose to write to the recipient first to let them know that they would like to correspond.

Watch videos of recipients talking about writing to donor families. 

Recipients can choose to write to a donor family at any time; some write within weeks of a transplant, some years later and some may never write. This is a personal choice that the recipient can make at any time.

The transplant coordinator supporting the recipient will support them in writing to a donor family if they wish. This letter will then be sent to the Donor Family Care Service team.

If you have asked for this information to be forwarded, then this will be sent to you. If you have said previously you do not want this information, it will be saved if you wish to receive at a later date.

If you change your decision about receiving this information then please contact the Donor Family Care Service team.

Contact us

Transplant coordinators who support recipients will give information about the process of writing to a donor family.

If a recipient wishes to write to their donor's family, they will always be supported in doing so.