On 25th October Afro-Caribbean and Asian young people from
Handsworth in Birmingham will begin renovating each others
community centres. They've enlisted the help of staff from
Barclays and the CSV Action Desk at BBC WM to help them with the
task. In total around 60 volunteers will be involved improving
facilities, including IT provision.
The groups have come together as part of CSV Make a Difference
Day, the UK's largest single day of volunteering, which is
supported by Barclays Community Investment Programme. Around
115,000 people across the UK are expected to take part, giving time
instead of money to improve communities.
CSV Make a Difference Days on Saturday 28th
October, with more than 3000 activities taking place two
weeks either side. Other activities across the UK include:
Muslim women fight alienation - prisons across the UK,
Tuesday 24th October
Young Muslim Women will be helping other young Muslim women in
prison by sending gift boxes which include a CD donated by Cat
Stevens, a copy of the Qur'an and information on where to get
support after their release. Many women prisoners are alienated by
their families, who believe they have brought shame to their
communities, so they might not have any visitors and little
support.
Disabled bikers get into gear - Birmingham, Saturday
28th October
Volunteers from the Disabled
Motorcyclists Association give help and support to people who have
had motorbike accidents. The services they provide range from
returning library books to working along side medical and social
services. They also work with novice disabled riders as a way to
boost confidence and self esteem. They will be spreading the word
at the NEC in Birmingham for CSV Make a Difference Day.
Will you pass the test? - city centre, 28th
October
Student Action for Refugees (STAR) will be taking to the streets of
Liverpool to find out how many UK citizens are able to pass the
Home Office's Citizenship Test. The group hope to question whether
citizenship can really be tested and promote better support and
understanding of immigrants and refugees.
ENDS
** Further press information and images: Esther Freeman, CSV Make a
Difference Day Press Office on 020 7812 0035 or email:
efreeman@csv.org.uk Out of
office hours: 07981 591150
** Latest press releases:
www.csv.org.uk/press
Notes for editors
1. CSV Make a Difference Day takes place on Saturday 28 October
2006, and activities take part a week either side. Around 115,000
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) creates opportunities for
people to take an active part in the life of their communities
through volunteering, training and community action. Each year
195,000 people give 4.9 million hours of their time as volunteers
through CSV. CSV trains 11,500 people of all ages.
3. Barclays PLC actively encourages employee involvement and
provides direct support through its employee community programmes.
These include paid time off in work time for volunteering, grants
for group volunteering activities, matched fundraising and matched
payroll giving.
4. In 2005, more than 26,000 Barclays employees around the world
took advantage of the support available to them for their work in
the community - to the benefit of more than 7,500 charities and
community groups.
5. More than 10,000 Barclays employees took part in Make A
Difference Day activities globally, including projects in Africa
and Spain. Volunteering activity included mentoring, beach
clearing, gardening and painting.
6. Barclays is taking its community investment responsibilities
seriously - investing £39.1 million in 2005. The organisation
focuses on the areas where it can use its knowledge and expertise
to make the biggest difference to key social issues. In the UK,
this includes programmes about money education, debt advice,
financial inclusion and getting people into work. Barclays also
strives to strengthen the local communities in which they operate,
and are investing £30 million over three years in grassroots sport
through Barclays Spaces for Sports.
7. For further information see social responsibility at
http://www.barclays.com.
Media enquiries contact: Jon Logie, Barclays PLC on 0207 116
6040.
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