LONDON -- What began as a discussion among readers of a Polish newspaper in Britain has transformed into a social media campaign with Polish migrants living in the UK donating blood in a nationwide movement against the stigma surrounding immigration.
Last week, Polish Express editor Tomasz Kowalski told The Independent that readers of the Polish language newspaper started to talk about staging a strike as "a way to show people in the UK that immigrants are an important part of Britain... to make the point that we are here and that we want to feel appreciated.”
But many people felt a strike would do more harm than good; without the support of trade unions, workers wouldn't have had any protection for their actions.
"If there was a serious threat to the Polish community, then I’m sure there would be a proper strike and proper demonstration," George Byczynski, coordinator of the British Poles Initiative, told Mashable. "But you know, there is nothing of that sort."
Instead, Byczynski and the British Poles Initiative started the #polishblood campaign, which calls for Polish people across the UK to donate blood to the National Health Service in an attempt to demonstrate the positive impact of their presence on Britain.
"Everyone has different goals when they’re donating blood. Some people simply want to do it because they want to save lives, other people want to do it because they are grateful to Britain and believe that it's a symbolic and honorable thing to do," Byczynski said.
By Thursday evening, around 2,500 people had indicated they were participating in the Facebook event connected with the #polishblood initiative, suggesting that around 1,200 litres of blood could be donated over the next few weeks.
People also posted photos of their donations on social media.
Dorota supports #polishblood to show the benefits that we bring to Britain by saving lives https://t.co/efgysKwXFb pic.twitter.com/Bdx0dzJRdZ— British Poles (@britishpoles) August 20, 2015
My #polishblood Let's keep together! @britishpoles pic.twitter.com/H2NlkXL7Ve— Dariusz Karpowicz (@karpowiczd) August 20, 2015
Thousands of Poles are donating #polishblood as a thank you to Great Britain - Martyna https://t.co/REo7Jt61TY pic.twitter.com/WKAeDeZIXL— British Poles (@britishpoles) August 20, 2015
Today, my #polishblood goes where my love goes....for all British people. Let's keep together! @britishpoles pic.twitter.com/pGwJYnECza— KrzysztoF (@chrisduka) August 20, 2015
But not everyone in the community agrees with the campaign.
Tadeusz Stenzel, the chair of the Federation of Poles, released a statement saying the Federation is "strongly against" creating a link between blood donation and political activism.
"Blood is universal and has no race, religion, gender or indeed political opinions," Stenzel wrote. "We believe it should not be used for political purposes."