30 May 2005
by Alexandra Frean

London: A pioneering charity initiative that enables television viewers to find out how they can take part in local volunteering opportunities was launched recently in the UK.

The scheme, launched by The Media Trust, a charity, aims to help some of the 11 million people in Britain who say that they would like to get involved in voluntary work, but who do not know how to get started. An estimated 26 million adults and children in the UK do some form of voluntary work every year, but ministers and charity leaders believe that there is scope to increase this number significantly.

The UK government has designated 2005 the Year of the Volunteer in an attempt to raise awareness about the individual and community benefits of volunteering.

The new television-based volunteering scheme enables digital satellite viewers to press the red button on their remote control device while watching the Community Channel, which broadcasts programmes about the charitable sector.

The button then connects them to a menu on their screen that lets them search for volunteering opportunities in their locality. Viewers can enter their postcode on the screen with their remote and the results will appear on their TV screens, giving them contact details of local volunteer bureaux or individual charities.

Caroline Diehl, chief executive of the trust, said: “Television is an inspirational medium. With the red button scheme we can capture people’s attention immediately and provide them straight away with information on how they can make a difference to the world and to the news they see on their screens.”

In addition to running continuously on the 24-hour Community Channel, the scheme would be included by mainstream broadcasters on programmes connected with the charity sector.

The trust works in partnership with the media industry to support the voluntary sector. Its corporate members include all the leading media companies, including News International, parent company of The Times.

From: Times Online