Award-winning help on the line
Thursday 4 May 2006
The annual CSV Make A Difference Day hopes to raise awareness of volunteering and get everybody involved in making a difference to somebody's life.
Before we tell you how you can get involved, take a look at just one of the hundred projects.
Helpline
For CSV Make a Difference Day 2005, Azra (pictured above) and a team of volunteers from the Muslim Youth Helpline helped to ease the loneliness of young Muslims in prison.
Support
Azra first became a volunteer with the Muslim Youth Helpline in 2004. Through the helpline she supported young Muslims facing issues such as depression, drugs, abuse, relationships, education and employment, faith and religion, mental health and fitting into society.
“There is a huge gap in the Muslim community," says Azra. "Difficult issues are just swept under the carpet. I wanted to do something to try and bring issues to the forefront and get them dealt with.”
Gifts
It turned out that the Muslim festival Eid coincided with CSV Make a Difference Day and Azra decided she wanted to do something a bit different. Along with several other volunteers she helped prepare gift boxes to send to young Muslims spending the festival in prison.
Inside the boxes were sweets and chocolates, a copy of the Qu’ran, a journal to record their thoughts, and information on where to get help upon their release.
The aim was to send a message to those on the inside that they were not forgotten, and not alone. The simple but powerful idea they hoped would ease loneliness, depression and even prevent suicide and re-offending.
New experience
“Previously my only experience with prisoners was those who called the helpline, and that wasn’t really that many. There is a whole other population with no access to help and I wanted to do something for them.
It might only be a chocolate bar to us, but to them it is so much more. We know that from all the letters of thanks that we receive.”
Award
So successful was the project that it was nominated for a CSV Make a Difference Day award, which was good news for Azra.
"There have been so many hours put in and so much enthusiasm and it’s all helping us build awareness.”
Azra and the rest of the Muslim Youth Helpline team won the Most Heart-Warming Activity category.
Find out more
To find out more about the campaign and awards, take a look at the CSV Make a Difference website.
