CSV Make a Difference Day, supported by Barclays, takes place on Saturday 29 October 2005, when around 5,000 volunteering events will be held across the UK.

Participants aged between 2 and 102 will spend the day giving time not money to meet new people, have fun and make a positive contribution to their local communities.

Celebrity support

Top names supporting last year's campaign included Davina McCall, Pete Waterman, Anthony Worrall-Thompson and the MPs Oliver Letwin, Lembit Opik and Alan Milburn.

What is CSV Make a Difference Day?

CSV Make a Difference Day is organised by CSV, the UK's biggest volunteering charity. Now in its tenth year, CSV Make a Difference Day invites everyone to try volunteering and places a spotlight on the benefits of giving time: community centres will be renovated; green spaces will be tidied up and many communities will directly benefit from volunteering initiatives.

How you will benefit from getting involved

The campaign also aims to highlight the personal benefits of volunteering. New research, commissioned in partnership with Barclays, has found that helping others is an effective form of self-help. Half of volunteers say volunteering has improved their health and made them fitter, half say it makes them feel less depressed and more than half say it reduces their stress levels.

Volunteering has also been found to have a major impact on people's lifestyle choices. One in four people find volunteering helps them to lose weight, one in five say it makes them drink less and one in six 18-24 years olds say it actually improves their love life!

Register an actvity for a free Action Pack

You can register your own activity or find an activity in your local area visit www.csv.org.uk/difference or call FREEPHONE 0800 284 533 to find out more.

Every person who registers an activity gets a free Action Pack, containing items to help make it a success, including a badge, a pen, stickers, posters, balloons, thank you certificates, chocolate and lots more. Group activity organisers also get a t-shirt and advice on how to promote their activity.

Highlights of CSV Make a Difference Day 2004 included:

• Up to a million bulbs planted and 30 million tonnes of rubbish collected at projects across the UK.
• 10,000 Barclays volunteers worked in teams across the UK to make a difference on local charity projects.
• Children affected by the Beslan school siege in Russia were sent greetings cards made by disabled children from special schools involved in Liverpool FC's football in the community scheme.
• Leonard Cheshire recruited volunteers to visit pubs, clubs, theatres and other public buildings as part of survey on compliance with the new Disability Discrimination Act.
• Refugees and asylum seekers spent a day trying volunteering at the Royal Free Hospital in north-west London.
• Staff at PDSA charity shops around the country spent the day cross-dressing to raise awareness and attract more volunteers.
• A member of the Karma Army spent the day performing random acts of kindness proposed by listeners to BBC Nottingham.
• A 'flash mob' of 100 volunteers from Woking Fairtrade Action Group Network took part in an ongoing campaign to encourage Woking to embrace Fairtrade.

ENDS

Latest press releases: www.csv.org.uk/difference


Notes for editors

1. CSV Make a Difference Day is organised by CSV (Community Service Volunteers) and supported by Barclays community investment programme, the Big Lottery Fund and the Home Office Active Communities Directorate.

2. CSV (Community Service Volunteers) is the UK's leading volunteering organisation and creates opportunities for people to play an active part in the life of their community through volunteering, training and community action. Each year 129,000 people give 3.8 million hours of their time as volunteers through CSV.

3. Barclays PLC actively encourages employee involvement through its Employee Volunteering grant giving, Volunteer 2day time giving and £ for £ match-funding schemes, as well as encouraging the wider public to do the same through supporting flagship projects such as CSV Make a Difference Day and Barclays SiteSavers.

4. "We actively encourage our employees to give their time and effort to local charities, urban regeneration, fundraising and all forms of volunteering. We are proud of their efforts and not a little humbled by them." Matt Barrett, Group Chief Executive.

5. Around 20,000 Barclays employees from around the world took part in community activities in 2003. Nearly 7,500 Barclays employees took part in Make a Difference Day activities alone, including staff in Africa and Spain. Volunteering projects ranged from mentoring, clearing beaches, serving meals in hostels for homeless people to gardening, painting and decorating.

6. Barclays takes its social and environmental responsibilities seriously, supporting social and financial inclusion both nationally and at grass roots level to make a real and lasting difference to the community. In 2003 the bank continued to be one of the UK's top corporate contributors, making a global commitment of £32.8m and one in four Barclays employees volunteered for their local communities.

For further information see social responsibility at www.barclays.com

Media enquiries contact: Sarah Davis, Sponsorship PR Manager, Barclays PLC on 020 7699 4114.