'I volunteer to give people a second chance'

Manj Kaur (left) lost both her mum and husband to cancer

When Manj Kaur lost both her husband and mother to cancer, she felt powerless to help them.

But when she heard that some people with certain types of blood cancer could be given a second chance if a stem cell match was found, she knew she had to get involved.

Ms Kaur, from Birmingham, became a volunteer with DKMS, a charity that signs people up to the stem cell register and tries to find matches.

"I thought, I couldn't help my mum or my husband and I've got the chance to help other people out there who can be saved," she told the BBC.

"When I first joined them I'd only just lost Raj, maybe a year and a half before, so I was already in a grieving stage, and the team don't even realise how much they've actually helped me.

"When we go out and do the drives together and we find out that somebody's got a match because of the drives we've done, the feeling we get is just ecstatic."

Manj Kaur volunteers with DKMS, which invites people to sign up to the stem cell register

"I'd love it if every cancer had a cure or a chance for someone to survive, but I feel like when I do hear that somebody we've swabbed has found a match and they're going on to live, they're getting a second chance in life. That feeling is priceless - and it just makes it worthwhile in what we do as a team."

"I think that's the best thing you can give somebody, a second chance in life."

She volunteers at the charity's West Midlands hub, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary on Saturday with a ball, which she organised.

"Our hub in particular tries to target the South Asian and Asian communities to try and get them signed up on the register so we're not fighting to get a match," she said.

DKMS will hold a ball on Saturday to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the West Midlands hub

"Every person we sign up is just adding to the register, which is helping everybody have that equal chance of finding a match."

DKMS said about seven per cent of the eligible population in the UK was registered as potential donors, and a very small portion of those potential donors were from minority ethnic communities.

The sold-out anniversary ball is at Manor Grove in Handsworth, with about 400 people due to attend.

"It's 10 years of saving lives," Ms Kaur said.