The British Transplant Games are coming to Medway next year and preparations are gathering pace.

Health insurance company Westfield Health has been named as the lead sponsor for the Games, having been involved with the competition for the past five years.

The Games, which are held in a different location each year, celebrate the life-saving benefits of an organ transplant.

The Games' official launch event is at Rochester Cathedral next Wednesday, November 2.

From August 23-26, hundreds of athletes from across the UK will converge on the Towns to compete in events such as swimming, running and volleyball. All of them have undergone a transplant.

But some are not so lucky - each year many people die while waiting for a transplant.

The aim in Medway next year is to increase the number of people signed up to the organ donor register.

Paul Shires, Westfield Health executive director for sales and marketing, said the event was a moving occasion, adding: "Every competitor has been on an amazing journey and to see them back to health and competing in sport is testament to the incredible value of organ donation.

"The 2011 Games in Belfast left a wonderful legacy, with the number of people on the donor register across Northern Ireland rocketing by more than 30,000. I'm sure Medway 2012 will be just as successful."

Lynne Holt, a trustee at Transplant Sport UK, organisers of the Games, said: "This vital support means that TSUK together with Westfield Health can really make a difference in Medway and the UK, in promoting not only the benefits of transplantation through this sporting event, but also in raising awareness of the desperate need for more people to sign on to the NHS Organ Donor Register."

For more information, visit www.transplantsport.org.uk.