Cells of a Generation CIC, often referred to as COAG, is a health-led storytelling and advocacy organisation working at the intersection of lived experience, media, and public systems. At its core, COAG exists to change how we talk about illness, care, and responsibility — particularly where those conversations have historically failed certain communities.
COAG was founded out of necessity. Living with sickle cell disease exposes the gaps in healthcare systems early and repeatedly: delayed treatment, lack of understanding, shortages of suitable blood, and a public narrative that rarely reflects the reality of patients’ lives. Rather than responding with awareness slogans alone, COAG was built to address root causes through education, storytelling, and system-level engagement.
The organisation’s work focuses on three connected pillars: blood donation advocacy, sickle cell education, and cultural storytelling.
A central part of COAG’s mission is improving blood donation outcomes for people living with sickle cell disease. In the UK, patients with sickle cell are more likely to need frequent and closely matched blood transfusions. These rare blood types are most commonly found in donors of Black African and Caribbean heritage, yet Black donors remain underrepresented in the national donor pool. COAG works closely with NHS Blood and Transplant to help close this gap through community-based education, partnerships, and public-facing content that explains why donation matters and how people can take part.
Rather than relying on clinical language alone, COAG uses storytelling as a tool for change. Its flagship project, The Lifeline Conversations, is a documentary that brings together patients, donors, clinicians, and everyday people affected by blood shortages and health inequity. The project aims to humanise systems that are often experienced as cold or inaccessible, showing how individual actions — like donating blood — ripple outward into real outcomes.
COAG also produces digital content across social platforms, using short-form video, interviews, and explainers to reach audiences who may not engage with traditional health campaigns. This approach reflects a belief that public health communication must evolve. Information only works if people see themselves in it and trust the source delivering it.
Education is another core strand of COAG’s work. The organisation runs workshops, talks, and collaborative sessions with schools, workplaces, community groups, and cultural institutions. These sessions cover sickle cell awareness, navigating healthcare systems, understanding blood donation, and challenging misinformation. Importantly, they are designed to be practical and conversational, not abstract or patronising.
Partnership is key to how COAG operates. Alongside NHS Blood and Transplant, the organisation has collaborated with charities, media organisations, and community networks to extend its reach and ensure its work remains accountable and relevant. These partnerships allow COAG to operate both inside and outside institutions — translating between policy language and lived reality.
Cells of a Generation is not a traditional charity, campaign, or media project. It is a living archive of experience and a platform for change. By combining health advocacy with culture and storytelling, COAG works to ensure that people living with chronic illness are not invisible, and that life-saving systems like blood donation are understood as shared, collective responsibilities.
