PEOPLE are being urged to promise life as new figures reveal 45 people are on the organ transplant list in Cumbria.

It only takes a few minutes to join the NHS Organ Donor Register but thousands of people don't do it.

In the last five years, 22 people in Cumbria have died waiting for a donation but 129 have had life-changing transplants.

Out of a population of nearly half a million, only 183,551 people in the county have signed up to be organ donors.

But this Christmas, NHS Blood and Transplant hopes to boost those numbers with a message: Faffing can be fatal and loafing can be lethal.

Sally Johnson, NHS Blood and Transplant director of organ donation and transplantation, said: "It's a terrible shame that so many people who want to save lives through organ donation have not taken the next, simple step to register that decision.

"We all have busy lives, yet most of us would admit that we still find ourselves whiling time away and delaying doing important things.

"Signing up to the NHS Organ Donor Register is one thing we know people often just haven't got around to doing."

In 2012 the News & Star’s sister paper, The Cumberland News, launched its Promise Life campaign to encourage more people to sign up to the organ donor register. Thousands did so.

While most people - about 81 per cent - say they support organ donation, only around a third of people in the UK have joined the NHS Organ Donor Register. Many supporters say they just haven't got round to joining yet.

This Christmas, the NHS Blood and Transplant is asking everyone who supports organ donation to take a few minutes while browsing videos on Facebook or online shopping to join the register.

Everyone who decides they want to register is encouraged to have a conversation with their family about organ donation. There is no age limit to joining.

There is a particular need for more black and Asian organ donors. People from black and Asian communities have a higher incidence of conditions such as diabetes and certain forms of hepatitis, making them more likely to need a transplant.

However, people from these communities are less likely to agree to organ donation, which creates a problem because the best matches are often from someone of the same ethnic background.

To join the register visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk .