My fear of needles has been well documented, and as such I would prefer not to ever have contact with them. Having said that, donating blood has always been something I’ve wanted to do, especially in Australia where blood reserves haven’t been particularly high.

Every blood donation has the potential to save three lives – an incredibly powerful statistic. So I decided to roll up my sleeves, put on my headphones and bite the bullet.

By the time I had sat down and started to listen to my music, it was almost over. There was a group of us who went together, so we milled around until everyone was finished. We also made thorough use the free candy bar at the end of process by ordering vanilla thick-shakes and chocolate muffins.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience. Nowhere near as painful or lengthy as I had first expected, and ten times more rewarding.