Paris attacks: How you can help victims in France without changing your Facebook profile picture

Since terror attacks in Paris that left 129 people dead, millions have applied a tricolour filter to their Facebook profile picture in solidarity with France.

Many have suggested the move is a superficial gesture that does not provide any practical support for France - and which fails to acknowledge the deadly bombings on the same day in Beirut.

But the latest atrocities on French soil, less than a year since the killing of 16 people during attacks on Paris-based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, have many across the world looking for a way to show their support.

For those due to travel to Paris any time in the near future, the best way to help is to give blood.

A statement posted on the Parisien government’s website thanked those donors who responded to the urgent calls over the weekend for blood to help treat the hundreds of wounded people.

Thousands of people poured into special centres set up by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent to respond to the crisis - with some waiting up to three hours to donate.

According to the L’Etablissement français du sang (French Blood Service), 9,474 people donated blood on Sunday - with over 1,000 being new donors.

The government said the urgent need had now been met but that it would continue to need blood over the course of the week.

It said: “It is important to anticipate that all needs continue to be met.

“That is why in this very sensitive period, the EFS have thanked donors who came forward but have said that this mobilisation has to be sustained. 10,000 donations are needed every day.”

It included a list of places open for blood donations on its website.

While fewer people are likely to be travelling to Beirut in the near future, it is still possible to help by donating to the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, who are co-ordinating relief efforts in both Lebanon and France.