Excitement is building for the Westfield Health British Transplant Games 2017 which will be held in North Lanarkshire from 27 to 30 July.

The Games, which are being hosted in Scotland for the first time in ten years, exist to encourage those who have received a transplant to lead active and healthy lives while showcasing the benefits of transplantation, and in doing so, raise awareness of the need for more people to sign the NHS Organ Donor Register. In the UK, 7,000+ people are waiting for a life-saving transplant and three die each day waiting. In North Lanarkshire there are currently a record 124,559 people on the Organ Donor Register with around 30 people receiving an organ transplant every year. There are currently 52 people in North Lanarkshire waiting for a transplant.

Over 750 inspiring athletes from across the UK, each of whom has received a life-saving organ transplant, will descend on North Lanarkshire, along with around 2,000 supporters to take part in 23 different sporting activities over the four day event. Athletes are aged between three and 81 and will compete in competitions including volleyball, archery, athletics, golf, squash, snooker, tennis and swimming.

Please note the Games are not ticketed and there is free entry to all sporting events, except for the darts.

For more information about the Games visit: www.britishtransplantgames.co.uk and www.transplantsport.org.uk or follow @WHBTG on Twitter.