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About Us

Kidney Research UK and Give a Kidney have joined forces to launch this website and the Make Your Mark campaign as part of the Robert Dangoor Partnership for Living Kidney Donation.

Image of living kidney donor Teresa

About Kidney Research UK

Kidney Research UK is the leading charity in the UK focused on funding research into the prevention, treatment and management of kidney disease.

Kidney Research UK logo

The charity’s vision is the day when everyone lives free from kidney disease, and for more than 60 years the research it funds has been making an impact. But kidney disease is increasing. As are the factors contributing to it, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity, making its work more essential than ever.

Kidney Research UK works with clinicians and scientists across the country, funding and facilitating research into all areas of kidney disease. We collaborate with partners across the public, private and third sectors to prevent kidney disease and drive innovation to transform treatments. Over the last ten years, we have invested more than £58 million into research.

The charity’s vision is the day when everyone lives free from kidney disease.

The charity also works closely with patients, ensuring their voices are heard and are at the centre of everything we do, from deciding which research to invest in, to how to plan priorities and work across the charity.

Give a Kidney charity logo

The charity was set up in 2011 by a group of non-directed living donors and clinical professionals involved in kidney transplant, all sharing a commitment to raising awareness of living kidney donation.

Give a Kidney works closely with NHS organisations to influence change and to ensure that its work is aligned with, and complementary to, the NHS. The Charity also collaborates with other kidney related charities, most recently through the Robert Dangoor Partnership with Kidney Research UK.

No-one should wait for a transplant for want of a kidney.

The Charity’s awareness campaigns have reached millions of people, some of whom have gone on to donate a kidney to someone on the transplant waiting list as a direct result. Give a Kidney has also been instrumental in contributing to research of living donation and has played a key role in improving the donor experience by representing the donor voice on a number of strategic national programmes.

Image of Kay, the first non-directed living kidney donor in the UK

THE HISTORY OF LIVING KIDNEY DONATION

The first successful living kidney donation took place in 1954 in the USA between two twin brothers. Since then, tens of thousands of people have become living kidney donors across the world. In the UK alone, approximately 1000 living kidney donations take place each year. Most of these are from donors who know their recipients, known as directed living kidney donation, however some people choose to donate a kidney to someone they don’t know, which is called non-directed kidney donation, or altruistic donation.

The number of non-directed kidney donations has been growing each year in the UK. Back in 2007/08, six people donated a kidney to a stranger, with only around 10 donations a year expected. Since then, the numbers have increased dramatically. At the time of writing, between 80-110 people donate a kidney to a stranger in need every year in the UK.

Image of a smiling doctor talking to a patient
Learn more
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the HTA approves all organ transplantations involving living donors

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