Yasmin volunteers as a mentor to a child with Friends United Network in London. She says: "Rather than simply talking about issues or sending cheques to solve problems, CSV Make a Difference Day is an ideal opportunity for those with a social conscience to do something really positive. Whether mentoring a child, befriending asylum-seekers, visiting elderly people or assisting people with disabilities, volunteers can make a dramatic difference to the lives of other people."

CSV Make a Difference Day, now the UK's biggest day of 'hands-on' volunteering, takes place this year on Saturday 30 October: nearly 100,000 people nationwide will give time rather than money to improve their local communities.

CSV Make a Difference Day is organised by the UK's largest volunteering and training charity CSV (Community Service Volunteers) and is supported by Barclays community investment programme. Volunteers are aged between 2 and 105 and activities include brightening up children's hospices, improving shelters for homeless families, turning waste ground into parks, bridging cultural divides and tackling bullying.

For CSV Make a Difference Day 2003:

  • Arsenal football coaches and volunteers who speak English as a second language worked with 60 young people to increase cultural awareness. The pupils learned 10 key phrases (including football terminology) in Somali, Turkish and Bengali. The young people enjoyed football training and had the chance to be photographed with the FA Cup! They were also given the opportunity to learn from another culture.
  • Young volunteers from SOVA (Society of Voluntary Associates) organised a multi-cultural day to celebrate diversity and promote tolerance in the community. The event included break-dancing, Irish and Indian dancing, as well as music from local bands.
  • Volunteers from Muslim Youth Helpline, a charity that provides confidential counselling for young Muslims, held an open day to raise awareness of the issues facing the community and to attract more under 25 year olds to volunteer.
  • Stockport Black People's Association, Nia Kuumba, held a celebration of Black History Month at Stockport College. The event brought together all sections of the community, attracted new volunteers and raised awareness of the borough's small black population.
  • Members of Granby Somali Women's Centre in Liverpool brightened up the centre's crèche by painting a wall mural.

Find out more about CSV Make a Difference Day at www.csv.org.uk/difference or call FREEPHONE 0800 284 533. 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, balloons, posters, thank you certificates, chocolate and lots more. Group activity organisers also get a T-shirt and advice on how to promote their activity.

Fast Facts:

  • Indonesian, Jordanian, Japanese, Kurdish, Latin American, Nepali, Somali, Turkish, Turkmen and Yemeni people were amongst the volunteers from the many different backgrounds who took part in CSV Make a Difference Day 2003.
  • Overall, 8% of CSV Make a Difference Day 2003 volunteers were from ethnic minority groups, representative of the overall UK population.
  • Nearly 34,000 people under 18 took part.
  • Over half (51%) of those who took part in 2003 were volunteering for the first time. 93% of these first-time volunteers said that they wanted to carry on volunteering, so the day mobilised an estimated 41,666 people into volunteering in their communities on a regular basis!
  • Half the population of Britain volunteers, the other half is waiting to be asked. (National Centre for Volunteering 1997) CSV Make a Difference Day is 'asking them'.
  • The average person spends 128 days a year sleeping… can you give one day to make a difference?

ENDS

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 http://www.barclays.com
Media enquiries contact: Sarah Davis, Sponsorship PR Manager, Barclays PLC on 020 7699 4114.