There's just one catch: you have to give blood and the drink is a milkshake. 

A group of Tamworth health professionals have committed to donating whole blood or plasma, and are rallying others in the sector to do the same. 

Tamworth Podiatry Centre owner Simon Burnett is inviting others to help reach a goal of 50 donations in three months.

“Only 3 per cent of people give blood, so I said to our staff of seven: how about once a month we shut early and give blood? Then I thought, if we can do it, why don’t we challenge other practices? …

“I think a little bit of healthy competition is a good thing; two people I’ve spoken to have said, ‘Well if you’re doing it, I’d better get there’.”

Mr Burnett led the way this morning at Tamworth Blood Bank on Ringers Rd – his 110th donation. 

He said he started giving blood in 1989, influenced by his parents who were regular donors. 

Like one in three Australians, they ended up needing blood themselves, due to cancer and joint replacements.

Mr Burnett said he was initially motivated more by appetite than altruism, though.

“Really, I was a poor uni student in Sydney and giving blood meant a free lunch in the city: a milkshake and a hotdog,” he said. 

Dozens of donations later, though, things are different: “It’s a simple thing I can do to help other people,” he said. 

Mr Burnett said many people falsely thought they couldn’t donate because of illness or travel, but he was an example of why they should check anyway.

In 1993 while backpacking in Africa he contracted a parasite-borne disease – cured now – and was still cleared to donate because the “bad stuff” could be centrifuged out.

The 2017 Tamworth Health Services Challenge will start next month and teams need to sign up by the end of July.