CSV Make a Difference Day is the UK’s biggest day of voluntary action and takes place this year on Saturday 27 October 2012. Regular participants in the CSV Make A Difference Day (MDDay) campaign are The Living Memory Association.

The LMA is an Edinburgh based group that aims to bring people together through reminiscence and oral history work. Heather Robertson of the LMA says "For the last ten years, we have used MDDay to encourage new people to come forward and become actively involved in their community. Volunteers can share their memories, learn from one another, feel valued and respected and give their knowledge of the past to younger generations".

The LMA's events have included creating sensory gardens to assist the stimulation of memories and the creation of special booklets and videos. The LMA is a perfect demonstration of skills sharing, which is a special highlighted of the 2012 MDDay campaign. Heather Robertson says "This year people will be encouraged to bring in their photos, objects and memories to our office on Thursday 24th October, where they will be shown how to use scanners by existing volunteers and help catalogue their items and add them to the LMA archive. We have attracted dozens of new volunteers through MDDay over the years as many people want to get more involved once they see our work in action."We offer training in oral history reminiscence and related work, such as interviewing techniques, copyright and ethical issues, working with dementia, use of prompting materials and handling boxes, and Information Technology  has also helped us reach out to new communities and individuals and assist them to produce books, magazines, displays and exhibitions."
 
To register for Make A Difference or to find out more visit the campaign website at www.csv.org.uk/difference call us on T: 0800 284 533 or e: difference@csv.org.uk  Our team is here to answer questions, help with ideas and lend support before and after you take part.