Animal lovers are being challenged to knit an animal blanket for homeless cats and dogs to donate to shelters to combat isolation and loneliness as part of the UK’s biggest single day of volunteering, CSV Make a Difference Day on Saturday 29 October 2011.

Last year alone, the RSCPA rescued and collected over 130,000 animals but sadly not all of them get a new, happy home with some left lonely in the shelters. Knitting a blanket is very easy and a perfect way to add comfort to the life of a cat or dog in an animal shelter. When they find a new home, they can take the blanket with them to help in the transition to an unfamiliar environment.

Knitting for lonely animals can bring people together too. Research shows that most British residents wouldn’t recognise their next door neighbour if they passed them on the street and 70% don’t know their names. A third of people live on there own and one million people who are over 65 are lonely and cut off from their community. Get to know your neighbours by organising a knitting group to knit all kinds of different animal blankets and donate them to your nearest RSCPA centre to keep an animal warm this winter.

Make a Difference Day, part of the UK volunteering charity CSV, is giving away a free how-to guide to knit your perfect animal blanket. The how-to guide offers a method for knitters and the first 50 people can claim free knitting needles donated from charity, The Natural Fibre.

Each year tens of thousands of people take part in the campaign to benefit the community. The nation plants thousands of flowers in community gardens, cemeteries and school playgrounds; helps out in local charity shops; knits hats and gloves for premature babies and visits lonely people in nursing homes, homeless shelters and hospitals – to give a few examples.

Other free How-to Guides include:

•    ‘How-to make a chocolatey difference’ a special Chocolate Fridge Cake recipe by   Chef, Sam Stern
•    ‘How-to volunteer to combat loneliness’
•    ‘How-to write a difference’ for very sick children in hospitals
•    ‘How-to get online’ for people who have never used the internet
•    ‘How-to combat community isolation’

CSV Make a Difference Day is on Saturday 29 October 2011, with activities taking place a week either side. Project Organisers can register their event on the CSV Make a Difference Day website to encourage more people to attend and claim their free Action Pack, which includes certificates, stickers, t-shirts, how-to guides, and a Handbook which contains advice, case studies, hints and tips to help plan and carry out an activity.

To register your event visit or find out more information visit www.csv.org.uk/difference  or call FREEPHONE 0800 284 533 or email difference@csv.org.uk

For further press information: Francesca Toma on 020 7812 0037/ 07966 168686 or Jason Tanner on 020 7812 0038 / 07941 433598

Notes for Editors

CSV Make a Difference Day takes place on Saturday 29 October 2011 and activities take part a week either side. More than three quarters of a million people have taken part since the launch of CSV Make a Difference Day in 1996, and thousands more are expected to give time rather than money to improve their local community this year. The campaign is organised by CSV (Community Service Volunteers).

CSV creates opportunities for people to take an active part in the life of their communities through volunteering, training and community action.

Help us in the quest to celebrate young achievers. Ambition AXA Awards are targeted at 11-18 year olds and have been created to recognise outstanding young people involved in The Arts, Community, Enterprise, Science and Sport.  The winner in each category receives a bespoke mentoring prize worth up to £40,000 per category to progress their ambitions so that they can continue to make that all important difference. CSV is helping to judge. Please encourage young people you know to apply by visiting www.ambitionaxaawards.com or www.facebook.com/ambitionaxaawards