They are blood donors and last week each celebrated reaching the 200-donation milestone at the annual Red Cross Donor Milestone Awards.

Earlier this month, 43 donors were recognised for reaching milestones of 100,150 and 200 donations and for their dedication to the cause.

Red Cross Northern District Community relations officer Stephen Beckett said that one donation of blood had the potential to save three lives, and between the milestone donors 14,700 lives had been changed.

"These people are often leukaemia sufferers or people with cancer, people undergoing surgery for illness and trauma," Mr Beckett said.

"The reality is that one in three people will need a blood transfusion at some point in their life, but the difficulty we face is that only one in 30 actually give blood."

Some donors chose to give a short speech in a bid to share their reasons for donating blood. Some were stories of illness that had led them to give back to the community.

Among those who chose to speak was blood recipient Andrew Padgett, a Launceston man who suffered from liver failure four years ago and relied on blood transfusions to keep him alive.

Mr Padgett said without the donors in Launceston and Melbourne he would not be alive today.

All the donors received commemorative medallions to mark their milestone.