Why we're here.
Why ?
Because people aren’t talking. In fact, research tells us that 80% haven’t shared their donation choice with their family. We know it can be a tough conversation, one that can be confused by myths and misinformation too. There’s a real need for clarity and truth, along with personal experiences shared by medics, donor families and patients.
That’s why !
By educating people on the positives of organ donation, we hope more people make organ donation their legacy.
What we do
Here at Live Life Give Life we get involved with exciting and colourful projects that speak directly to adults and youth, encouraging interaction with peers, teachers and parents alike.
Upbeat, uplifting and meaningful, our campaigns focus on helping individuals young and old make an empowered choice about their donation legacy.
How we’re making a difference
If it’s thought provoking and interesting, it’s worth sharing. Live Life Give Life’s activities are designed to change the way people think and talk about organ donation.
The solution to more organ donors is literally in all of us!
Find out more about some of our exciting initiatives and get involved.
Meet the Orgamites
Logo Revolution
Help Us Raise £1 Million
Let Love Live On
Our Story
Our Story
Live Life Give Life was founded in 2006 by Emily Thackray and Emma Harris both afflicted by Cystic Fibrosis (CF). The two young women had lost many friends to CF and, at the time, Emily was on the waiting list for a life-saving lung transplant.
The shortage of organs and donors inspired Emily and Emma to create a T-shirt campaign to raise awareness and encourage people to sign the organ donor register. Live Life Give Life was their slogan and their fledgling charity; and went on to attain charity status in 2008.
Emily received a transplant is 2007, and a further transplant in 2014, but tragically passed soon after. Emma continues to fundraise and raise awareness for the cause.
Our Team
Here at Live Life Give Life, many of us have an emotional and personal connection to organ transplantation. Our trustees and experts include medical professionals, families of donors, people awaiting organs and recipients of donor organs.
Mandy Venters
Chair & Treasurer
“Organ donation saves lives and families and leaves a legacy of hope.”
Mandy Venters
Chair & Treasurer
I was born in Zimbabwe and had a carefree childhood with good health taken for granted. After qualifying as a chartered accountant, I moved to London. Here, I enjoyed the opportunities, professionally and personally – especially being able to indulge my passion for travel.
Therefore, it came as a huge shock when I discovered that I had chronic kidney disease, and that I needed a kidney transplant. After nearly six years on dialysis (nine hours each night) I finally got ‘the call’ and received a kidney from a woman who had shared her choice to be an organ donor, before her untimely death.
In the twelve years since my successful transplant I have relished the chance to ‘pay it forward’. Working for Live Life Give Life has helped me do this, and along the way, I’ve met many inspiring people who have enriched my life immeasurably.
Luke Yates
Trustee
“I'm in awe of the families who, in times of despair and grief, say “yes" to donating a loved one’s organs and help others live on.”
Luke Yates
Trustee
I joined Live Life Give Life after my wife, Samantha, passed away. She died before she received the double-lung transplant she needed to treat end-stage lung disease caused by Cystic Fibrosis. During our time waiting for organs to become available, we embarked on making a series of video diaries of our journey; footage which later became the basis for the documentary A love worth giving.
Sam was on the waiting list three years and three months. In that time, I completed my PhD – biomedical research with a goal to help people understand human disease – the direction of which was inspired by Sam’s situation. In the end, all the waiting and hoping was in vain, she was only 28 when she died.
Sam was a registered organ donor: she said that if she was willing to receive an organ she should be willing to donate. “The family and I decided to honour her choice”
Rachel Prosser
Trustee
“Every day, I am inspired by people who have been touched by the power of organ donation.”
Rachel Prosser
Trustee
Transplant has been part of my life since I was fifteen, because, in September 2000, I was diagnosed with leukaemia and underwent a bone marrow transplant. Post-transplant I got graft versus host disease, which attacked my lungs and caused permanent damage. As a result, I needed a single lung transplant, and in 2012 I got ‘the call’ and received a donor lung which changed my life forever.
I feel very blessed to have received a transplant. My donor and her family are always in my thoughts; without her – and them – choosing organ donation, I wouldn’t be here today.
I’ve worked with Live Life Give Life since 2013, and focus on fundraising in lots of different ways – no event is ever too big! By working with the charity, I hope to make a difference by encouraging people to talk about organ donation, and make their choice known to their loved ones.
Tessa Gatti
Administrative Support
“Talk about organ donation – it makes things easier for everyone.”
Tessa Gatti
Administrative Support
I joined the Live Life Give Life team in 2012 to help with the admin side of things. I process all the important requests and people’s kind donations; I also edit any incoming life stories for our website.
As a parent, the campaign James Needs a Heart struck a particular chord with me, because it involved a young child desperately in need of a donor heart to save his life. I also have several friends who have been affected by organ donation and Cystic Fibrosis, so my work with the charity has helped me gain a more personal insight into their situation.
Very few people seem to have thought about organ donation, let alone discussed their choice with their loved ones. It makes sense to do so, because it will help them know they’re making a decision in-line with the choice you made. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
Roydon Turner
Trustee & Creative Director
“Being an organ donor is one thing we can all do, it gives us all a purpose even in the darkest hour, allowing loved ones to be comforted and let love live on.”
Roydon Turner
Trustee & Creative Director
I’ve over twenty years’ experience as a creative director and film director. I first worked with Live Life Give Life to devise the campaign Let Love Live On, which attracted a lot of media attention.
My path to working with the charity stems from the loss of my brother when we were young. When he died, it didn’t occur to my family to donate his organs. Now I think that had we done so, his gift of life to others would have helped us heal. As a result, I’m determined to encourage families to share their choice to donate, so that, should the worst happen, they’ll draw comfort from their loved one’s legacy.
I believe in laying the foundations for future change by educating younger generations. In 2015 I created The Orgamites to teach kids, age five and up, about health and organ transplantation. We’ve activity boxes for home and school and work with private charities, the NHS, ESOT and GOSH.
Georgia Wilding
Trustee
"Every single day at work and with the charity I am blessed to meet people saved by transplants and my life is so much richer for it."
Georgia Wilding
Trustee
I’ve always grown up aware of organ donation because my cousin, Jamie, had two liver transplants as a child. As I started my nursing degree I was lucky enough to do a placement on the only mixed transplant unit in Europe and that’s where I found Live Life Give Life, running the Great North Run for them in 2013.
Shortly after I was invited to be an advocate for the charity and I’ve been with LLGL ever since! Sadly we lost Jamie in 2020 but we are so thankful for the extra 20 years his donors gave to him and our family. I qualified as a nurse and now work on the transplant unit.
With Live Life Give Life I love to focus on education and school talks, making sure the next generations will see organ donation as a clear choice. Meanwhile I will continue to run my little legs off for LLGL.
Would you like to join our team?
We’d love to hear from you. Simply send an email to info@livelifegivelife.org.uk and tell us your story.