Celebrity 'Vampires' Launch #Giveblood Campaign With Bite

Celebrities from the world of pop and YouTube have given their backing to a new social media campaign to encourage young adults to give blood. Timed to coincide with Hallowe'en, the 'Blood Donors Have Spirit' campaign uses the strapline 'save a vampire - give blood'. The campaign was launched last week at Tulleys Shocktober Fest Scream Park near Crawley in West Sussex where the celebrities donned vampire teeth to deliver their #GiveBlood message.

The campaign is the idea of Stuart Beare, the owner and creator of Shocktober Fest Scream Park at Tulleys Farm, the UK's biggest Hallowe'en attraction. Celebrity YouTubers Zoella, Pointless Blog, Marcus Butler and others along with pop stars Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), Jake Roche (Rixton) & Jesy Nelson (Little Mix) have already given their backing with more celebrities and guests joining in each week.

Darren Bowen, Regional Marketing Manager at NHS Blood and Transplant says - "We are delighted to be working with Shocktober Fest to encourage more people to donate blood. We need 7,000 people every day to donate in England and North Wales to maintain vital blood stocks. I would particularly like to encourage young people to become the donors of the future as evidence shows that if you start donating before the age of 26, you're likely to keep donating for the rest of your life."

Says Stuart Beare, "I know how important it is to get young people into the habit of giving blood early, and how difficult it is to reach that audience. Through our Shocktober Fest Scream Park event we can help reach that audience with 50,000 visitors over the Hallowe'en period, many of them in the hard to reach 17 - 26 age group. We are delighted to have the support of the celebrity YouTubers and pop stars that are so influential with that age group."

YouTube videos supporting the 'Save a Vampire' #giveblood campaign which launched this week have already been seen by over a million people, with twitter and other online social media activity engaging many thousands more.

Says Stuart Beare, from Tulleys Shocktober Fest Scream Park, "It's a great collaboration and we hope we can help support NHS Blood & Transplant with our campaign and create greater awareness of blood donation amongst young people."

Shocktober Fest, which is widely regarded as the UK's No1 Scare Attraction and offers '19 Fright Nights' from the 4th October - 2nd November 2014 is keen to promote the importance of becoming a blood donor and have launched a social media campaign with a bite!

For more information go to: www.halloweenattractions.co.uk/shocktoberfest/visit-us/save-a-vampire-give-blood

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Notes to Editors:

Alfie Deyes PointlessBlogTV Youtube video about the campaign has been watched by half a million people so far. At 11 min in, the video of YouTubers with vampire teeth explaining the campaign. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRC6o7uzPv0&list=PL6028C83EEacqRhiSfK56uysugmzGtDj1.

Marcus Butler YouTube video has been seen 240k times. 9 min in talks about the campaign with vampire teeth in! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWh6PQk2R_A&list=UUIHHYnpaqR8njCYf9fLEgLw

Jonathan Joly, the SacconeJolys YouTube video has been seen over 280k times.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPozvzHZEHU&list=UUxJrnvfqSSvly5hiq2Fe68g

Shocktober Fest Scream Park at Tulleys Farm

Each October Stuart Beare opens the UK's biggest Halloween themed attraction the Shocktober Fest Scream Park at Tulleys Farm. Up to 5000 people a night attend the event which includes seven different haunted attractions and rides plus many other Halloween themed shows and activities. It has been voted the UK's No1 Halloween Attraction in the Screamie Awards for the past four years running.

Ticket prices range from £9.95 for the off-peak Street Pass which gives access to the street entertainment and live bands to £32.95 for a peak night X-scream pass for all seven haunted attractions. Tickets should be booked online in advance atwww.tulleyshalloween.co.uk.

Families with younger children have their own Spook Fest by Day family Halloween event at Tulleys Farm. It is open on the weekends of 4 & 5, 11 & 12, 18 & 19 October then daily from 25 October - 2 November. Activities for families and young children including; Horrid hayride, haunted house, boo barn, pumpkin shy, giant slides and fancy dress parades. Admission for a family of 4 starts at £36.

Tulleys Farm, Turners Hill, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 4PE, Tel 01342 718472,www.tulleyshalloween.co.uk.

NHS Blood and Transplant

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is a joint England and Wales Special Health Authority. Its remit includes the provision of a reliable, efficient supply of blood and associated services to the NHS in England and North Wales. It is also the organ donor organisation for the UK and is responsible for matching and allocating donated organs

Donors can search for sessions, change their contact details, book appointments and change/cancel their appointments in real time on www.blood.co.uk

There are apps available for Android, Windows and Apple Smartphone and tablet devices which enable donors to search for sessions based on your location, book and manage appointments.

NHSBT's donor line - 0300 123 23 23 - is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week with all calls charged at the standard local rate, even from mobile phones

NHSBT collects 1.8 million units of blood each year from over 23,000 blood donation sessions in more than 3,000 venues

Only four per cent of the eligible population are active blood donors

A unit of blood is measured as 470mls (or just under a pint)

There are four main blood groups - O, A, B and AB. Group O is the most common and therefore the most in demand. A regular supply of blood is vital - red cells last 35 days and platelets only 7 days

Female whole blood donors can give blood every 16 weeks, while male blood donors must wait 12 weeks between donations. Platelets can be donated every 2 weeks

For further press information & photographs please contact: David Leon, Partners Leisure, T: 01904 610077 (M: 07980 802059) david@partners-group.co.uk