Local People Waiting To Be Given The Chance To Improve The Future Of Their Community

On the eve of CSV's Make a Difference Day with Barclays and The Woolwich, the UK's largest day of volunteering, a new report from CSV reveals that local people have a very clear idea of the kind of community they want to live in and (66%) are waiting to get involved to create it.

The CSV Report - Community Futures - shows that people see their local community in a very positive light with (82%) believing where they live to be a safe, fair and caring place. However 4% described their local community as racist and only 8% considered their community to be an inclusive place, supporting the current pattern of people becoming increasingly isolated along faith and cultural lines.

MORI research for the CSV Report clearly identifies that most people still believe good schools (81%) and hospitals (79%) to be the bedrock of an ideal community, followed by local shops (62%) and parks (60%). Places of worship (32%) are seen as less important. Having the right institutions is seen as the most important part of an ideal community, with 40% of people saying they would volunteer to make them work better. A CSV spokesperson said:

"Some of the toughest challenges ahead will be in persuading institutions to change their attitudes to volunteering. CSV's Make a Difference Day is one day of opportunity for volunteers and shows how much volunteering already contributes in every area of society. Imagine what we could achieve for our future communities if volunteers were asked to do more. There is nothing that the right volunteer cannot achieve."

CSV's Make a Difference Day with Barclays and The Woolwich is a single day where everyone can make a difference and see the difference transform the lives of thousands of people and hundreds of communities. Sir Brian Jenkins, Deputy Chairman of Barclays added:

"Barclays became involved with CSV's Make A Difference Day because it aims to include both employees and everyone who would like to get involved in their community in its volunteering programme."

"It's wonderful that this research shows that Make A Difference Day is just the kind of opportunity people want and that local community projects are important to them. The day itself gives a real taster of hands-on volunteering and how it can make a huge positive impact on local communities."

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Technical details

• CSV is the UK's leading volunteer organisation and creates opportunities for people to take an active part in the life of their community through volunteering, training and community action. CSV's Make a Difference Day began in 1996 and has grown into the largest single day of volunteering in the UK.
• Barclays and the Woolwich are supporting CSV's Make A Difference Day for three year's, October 27 2001 is the second year of this partnership, worth over 163400,000. Barclays Bank PLC donates 1% of its UK pre-tax profits to community causes each year. In 2000 this amounted to 16326.4 million, making Barclays the UK's second largest corporate contributor and the UK's third largest giver worldwide. The aim of the Barclays community programme is to achieve real and lasting benefit both for the community and Barclays.
• MORI conducted a nationally representative survey of 2006 adults aged 15+ throughout Great Britain, with interviews conducted face-to-face in respondents' homes between 4 October - 9 October 2001. 192 sampling points were covered and results were weighted to the national population profile.