Andrea Maflin, design expert from This Morning, GMTV and UK Style, will be transforming a martial arts school that has helped reduce crime levels in one of the capital's most deprived areas as part of the CSV Make a Difference Day campaign.

CSV Make a Difference Day is the UK's single biggest day of 'hands on' volunteering and takes place the two weeks either side of Saturday 29th October. On Saturday 4th November Andrea will be going with a team of volunteers to give the Fatshun Martial Arts Studio a much needed makeover.

The Fatshun Martial Arts Studio in north London has been working with young and old for 16 years. They have been helping to build confidence in victims of crime as well as helping young people who may be at risk of offending channel their aggression in a more positive way.

Sid Sofos from Fatshun Martial Arts Studio said: "We get lots of young people from the streets coming to our school. We try to rehabilitate them, teaching them how to channel their anger at a pad, rather than a person. We also do a lot of work with victims of domestic violence, helping to build their confidence and self worth, as well as teaching them some self defence techniques. According to Tottenham Police statistics, the work we do has helped reduce crime in the local area."

When the amazing work of the school, and the poor condition of their studio came to the attention of Andrea Maflin she decided she wanted to make a difference to the people who had made a difference to so many others.

"I was amazed when I heard about the Fatshun Studio, "said Andrea. "These people have been quietly helping so many people for years. I felt they needed to be admired, and they needed to be supported in what they do."

Andrea and her team are hoping to give the studio a full facelift, and they have a lot of support from the local community to do this. Steve Mills of A1 lofts has personally sponsored a number of the children and is sending a carpenter to the event to help remodel parts of the studio. In addition B&Q are donating materials to help with the renovation. However they are still looking for more people with trade skills who might be willing to give their time for free.

"Just one day is all we are asking people to give," said Andrea. "Just a few hours to help the people who have helped so many others in this community."

If you would like to get involved in the project please call Sid Sofos on 020 88854126.

ENDS


Further press information contact: Esther Freeman CSV Make a Difference Day Press Office on 020 7812 0035/39. Email: efreeman@csv.org.uk. Out of office hours call 07981 591150.

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

Notes for editors

1. CSV Make a Difference Day takes place on Saturday 29 October 2005, and activities take part a week either side. Nearly 100,000 people are expected to give time rather than money to improve their local community. The campaign is organised by CSV (Community Service Volunteers) and supported by Barclays community investment programme and the Home Office Active Communities Directorate.

2. CSV (Community Service Volunteers) is the UK's leading volunteering and training 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 164,000 people give 4.1 million hours of their time as volunteers through CSV.

3. Year of the Volunteer 2005 is owned by volunteers, led by a partnership between Community Service Volunteers (CSV) and the Volunteering England Consortium, and supported by the Home Office. To find out more about events and activities during the Year of the Volunteer 2005, please visit the official website at www.yearofthevolunteer.org

4. 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 Spaces for Sports.

5. "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 Chairman.

6. Over 20,000 Barclays employees from around the world took part in community activities in 2004. Over 11,500 Barclays employees took part in Make a Difference Day activities alone, including staff in Africa and Spain. Volunteering projects ranged from mentoring, clearing beaches to gardening, painting and decorating.

7. 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 2004 the bank continued to be one of the UK's top corporate contributors, making a global commitment of £31.9m and one in three Barclays employees volunteered for their local communities.

8. For further information on Barclays community activity, please see corporate responsibility at http://www.barclays.com. Media enquiries contact: Sarah Davis, Sponsorship PR Manager, Barclays PLC on 020 7116 6095.