Companies challenged to make a difference make a difference day

CSV's Make a Difference Day, the UK's biggest day of volunteering, is challenging businesses to get involved in its 2003 campaign. Make a Difference Day provides a great opportunity for companies to kick-start or enhance their corporate social responsibility programme and benefit their bottom line.

Recent research shows 84% of the British public take a company's activities in the community into account when forming an opinion of that organisation (MORI 2002). However, a new report by the Work Foundation suggests almost six out of ten (58 per cent) of the 277 organisations surveyed have no strategy for social responsibility or corporate citizenship. Make a Difference Day is a chance for companies to make a positive difference in their communities. Organised by the UK's largest volunteering charity CSV, the campaign asks people to give time, rather than their money, for one day.

Make a Difference Day is supported by Barclays community investment programme, as part of the bank's world-class volunteering scheme: 1 in 4 employees take part in volunteering activities. Last year over 8,500 Barclays employees participated in CSV's Make a Difference Day, along with a range of other companies, including Ford Motor Company, Leeds Housing Federation, Abbey National and Parsons Brinckerhoff. Activities ranged from serving sandwiches to the homeless, donating toys to a children's ward, to renovating a sports club and helping out at a wildlife centre (case studies available).


Businesses can benefit from:

Positive Media Attention: 76% of Make a Difference Day activities gained print or broadcast media coverage in 2002, with a campaign value of 1.5 million.
Improved employee morale and work performance - adding variety to your employee's work: 4 in 5 British employees say a company's demonstration of commitment to the local community has an impact on pride in the company they work for (1 in 5 say it has a great deal of impact) MORI, 2000
A free teambuilding or training exercise, developing new skills: The experience taught us far more about teamwork in one day than any course could. Clare Waymouth, Barclays.
A staff recruitment and retention tool.
Enhanced relationships within the local community.
An opportunity to jump start a longer-term volunteering programme.
Barclays has announced this month that it will continue to support Make a Difference Day for a further three years. Sir Peter Middleton said: This is a fantastic opportunity to make a real difference to your local community, just by giving up a few hours of your time. I am looking forward to getting stuck in this year. I hope that more businesses will encourage their staff to volunteer and support local Make a Difference Day projects around the country.
For more information on taking part, visit our website www.csv.org.uk or contact Sara Burdon on 020 7643 1433 or email sburdon@csv.org.uk

CSV Make a Difference Day with Barclays Saturday 25 October 2003

...One day of fun, one day of action, one world of difference...

To find out more call FREEPHONE 0800 284 533