The Society has donated £500 to the event, which takes place from July 30th to August 2nd, and has kickstarted its own life-saving Donor Card Scheme among its 1,000 staff and its customers.

The Games are made up of participants who are all fully fit, having had life saving transplants. Competitors will range from five-year-olds to people in their 70s. All will at some stage have undergone heart, liver, pancreas, bone marrow, lung or kidney transplants.

One aim of the Games is to raise the profile of Donor Cards, to encourage more people to carry them.

The Heart of England Co-operative Society has been a staunch supporter of the Donor Card Scheme for more than five years. It houses donor cards and organ donor registration forms in all its stores across Coventry, Warwickshire and south Leicestershire.

There are more than 16 million people registered on the NHS Organ Donor Register. Almost a million people joined between April 2008 and March 2009. Latest figures, taken from March this year, show there were 7,877 people awaiting a transplant.

Ali Kurji, Chief Executive of the Heart of England Co-operative Society, said: “The Transplant Games are an excellent way to highlight the importance of donors and to show the fantastic results that can be achieved through a transplant.

“To carry a Donor Card is a simple gesture but really can mean the difference not just between life and death, but also the quality of life after a transplant.