Jourdan Dunn Visits Brixton NHS Blood Centre on World Sickle Cell Day: Donates blood with Akanji Studio Artwork

On June 19, 2025 World Sickle Cell Day supermodel and sickle cell advocate Jourdan Dunn visited the Brixton NHS Blood Donation Centre to donate blood and raise awareness for the thousands living with sickle cell disorder.

What made this moment unforgettable? She stood beside a piece created by Akanji Studio.

Our artwork 'Brixton Gives Blood' currently installed in the Brixton Donation Centre, was created to honour the local community and its essential role in the blood supply chain.

Jourdan, whose son Riley lives with sickle cell, has been vocal about the emotional and physical toll of the condition. Her presence at the centre wasn’t just symbolic, it was urgent. She showed up, she gave blood, and she stood in solidarity with the community fighting for visibility, better care, and more blood donors.

“I’ll always put Riley before anything else because I’m a mother first,” she once said. “The hardest thing is not knowing if he’s just miserable or in pain and having a crisis. All I want to do is take the pain away.”

We created this piece to speak to that pain. To transmute it into something powerful and public. To make sure the stories of those living with sickle cell, stories like Riley’s, aren’t invisible.

This is what advocacy looks like.

This is what love looks like.

This is what art is for.

We’re proud that Akanji Studio’s work stood beside Jourdan Dunn on a day that mattered. And we’re even more committed to pushing this mission forward: amplifying voices, encouraging blood donations, and transforming pain into power through art.

If you’re reading this and you’re able to donate blood, especially if you’re of Black heritage we urge you to step forward. The Ro subtype, essential for sickle cell patients, is found mostly in Black donors.

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