NHS Blood and Transplant is urging York residents to take the time to consider and take time to talk about their organ donation decision.

The call comes as it launches a TV advertising campaign to highlight the upcoming changes to the law around organ donation in York and across the UK.

From spring next year, all adults in England will be considered to have agreed to donate their own organs when they die unless they record a decision not to donate or are in one of the excluded groups.

The ‘Pass it on’ campaign aims to motivate people across England to “Pass It On”, whether that’s by making the decision to pass on their organs to save lives; passing on their decision to family and friends or passing on information about the law change to other people.

The TV advert, which is due to air for the first time on 20 December, follows a woman holding a heart shaped balloon.

We watch her quietly leave her home and sleeping family and travel by bus as she observes different scenes of life that continue to go on around her. In the final scene, we see her approach a building as the sun rises, silently releasing the balloon with a smile.

A waiting patient reaches out from a window to receive it, symbolising the gift of passing on life through organ donation. The patient looks down and gestures as if to say thank you.

The advert ends with a reminder that the law around organ donation is changing in England from spring 2020 and urging people to find out more and register a decision.

The TV campaign is the next stage of the national organ donation law change awareness campaign, which launched in April this year. The advert aims to reach people and boost conversations about organ donation at Christmas, while people are together with their families.