Origins lie in the activities of Jack R Copland, an Edinburgh dentist shocked by the death of a friend due to a lack of blood donors. A member of the Holyrood Conclave of the Order of Crusaders, founded in 1921 by Lt. General Sir Edward Bethune, Copland proposed that they set up a blood donor panel and transfusion centre for the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. This began in 1930 with 26 donors, rapidly growing to 350 by 1936. In the same year the connection with the Crusaders ceased and the Edinburgh Blood Transfusion Service was founded. As a result of demands caused by World War II, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service was set up involving five regional centres, one of which was Edinburgh and South East Scotland.
From the guide to the Edinburgh and South East Scotland Blood Transfusion Service, 1930-2001, (Lothian Health Services Archive, University of Edinburgh)
