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The skies will turn pink across Morecambe Bay next week as the hospitals trust marks Organ Donation Week.

The Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Furness General Hospital and Westmorland General Hospital will be lit up pink in support of Organ Donation Week (September 26-October 2.

And the Ashton Memorial in Lancaster will also be lit up, thanks to Lancaster City Council.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) will join a number of hospitals, businesses and community groups across the country in lighting their buildings to raise awareness of the ‘Yes I Donate’ campaign, which aims to inspire people to tell their families that they want to be a donor and to register their decision.

The Ashton Memorial will be lit up pink to mark Organ Donation Week.

In the UK, someone dies every day in need of an organ and there are almost 7,000 people currently on the active transplant waiting list.

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Dr Vera Gotz, Clinical Lead in Organ Donation UHMBT, said: "UHMBT hospital sites and the Ashton Memorial will look fabulous in pink, and we hope that it will make people take notice and start to discuss organ donation. Sadly, many opportunities for organ donation are lost every year because families don’t know if their loved one wanted to be a donor or not.

“You could save or transform up to nine people’s lives by donating your organs when you die, and help even more people by donating tissue. That’s why it is so important to raise awareness and encourage people to talk about it.

“Even though the law around organ donation has now changed to an opt out system, family members will still always be involved before organ donation goes ahead. That’s why it is still just as important to register your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and ensure your friends and family know what you want and will support your decision.”

Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “It’s brilliant of UHMBT and Lancaster City Council to show their support for Organ Donation Week.

“We need people across Lancashire and South Cumbria to not only talk to their families about organ donation, but to register their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register. This could be the difference between life and death for someone else.”

Lancaster buildings light the skies pink for Organ Donation Week's 'Yes I Donate' campaign