THE Year of the Volunteer 2005 steps into a new phase this week, with the launch of the 'Give a Billion Minutes' campaign. The campaign aims to raise one billion minutes of volunteered time for good causes by the end of 2005. Home Office Minister Hazel Blears and Sir Matthew Pinsent will launch the campaign and call on people who have never volunteered, those who are already volunteering and organisations such as businesses and schools to stand up and be counted. 

The 'Give a Billion Minutes' campaign will inspire and encourage people to get involved in a number of different ways, from simply checking in on a neighbour on the way to work, to taking part in a 1-day environment project, or a longer term regular commitment with an organisation, such as being a magistrate or coaching a football team. The Year of the Volunteer will be recording minutes from individuals, while an option for organisations such as businesses or schools to count their minutes in bulk will be available. 

Home Office Minister Hazel Blears and Sir Matthew Pinsent will ask people to pledge their minutes in 3 ways:-

Log onto www.yearofthevolunteer.org
Free phone 08000 839 839
Text 'VOL' followed by your name to 80010

The Year of the Volunteer website www.yearofthevolunteer.org contains a database of opportunities that people can search by their postcode, as well as ideas for activities that people can do themselves. A volunteering booklet will be available for those without internet access, and a kit containing ideas for individual or group volunteering is in development. 

The 'Give a Billion Minutes' campaign has widespread support throughout the media industry following successful breakfast meetings hosted by the Media Trust and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon Gordon Brown. Key media heads from across TV, radio and print media have pledged their commitment to the Year of the Volunteer by giving pro bono space for the Billion Minutes campaign. This is the first time that the media sector as a whole has come together to back a campaign to promote volunteering.

Commenting on the campaign, Hazel Blears said:- "I'm delighted to launch this exciting new initiative. The Government is strongly behind the Year of the Volunteer and the Billion Minutes campaign provides a simple mechanism for everyone to get involved. We know that individuals can learn new skills, expand their CV, make new friends and feel happier through volunteering and make a real difference in their communities. It is so simple, it doesn't matter where you live, what you do or how much time you have - anyone can do it."

Christopher Spence, Chief Executive of Volunteering England added:- "The first 6 months of the Year of the Volunteer has been very successful in raising awareness of volunteering. The Billion Minutes campaign aims to turn the awareness into action. Volunteering is an action that is freely given to help others it can range from helping a neighbour to a longer term regular commitment."

WITH school holidays approaching and new figures on road traffic accidents to be issued by the Department for Transport (DfT) on June 30, End Child Poverty and children's charity NCH are calling on the government to do more to stop the slaughter of poor children on our roads.

According to a government report, children from the lowest social class are 5 times more likely to die in road accidents than those from the highest social class. Child pedestrians in the most deprived areas are also more at risk. More than a quarter of child pedestrian casualties are in the most deprived 10% of wards. Poor children are more likely to live near main roads where there are few safe play areas, and to play in the streets, especially in summer.

In 2003, 2,381 child pedestrians and 595 children on bicycles were killed or seriously injured on the roads. A further 10,163 child pedestrians and 4,174 child cyclists were injured. The DfT admits that due to underreporting, under-recording and misclassification, the number of severely injured may be 2.76 times higher. Britain has a poor record for child pedestrian deaths compared to other European countries which have implemented more speed restrictions and traffic calming, especially near schools.

The government has set a target to reduce the number of children killed or seriously injured on the roads by 50% by 2010. It has also pledged to tackle the concentrations of road casualties in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in England.

ECP Director Jonathan Stearn said:- "Much more must be done to reduce these scandalous statistics. The government must be bold and send a clear message to local authorities that cutting the number of child road accidents must be a priority, especially in the poorer areas of the country."

ECP and NCH are also calling on the government to make changes to the Road Safety Bill currently being debated in Parliament to give priority funding to schemes specifically aimed to reduce child road accidents.

Caroline Abrahams, Director of Public Policy at NCH (and Chair of ECP) added:- "It is disappointing that there is no mention of improving child safety in the Road Safety Bill currently going through Parliament. We hope that the government will rectify this and ensure that schemes specifically aimed to reduce child road accidents are given priority, particularly in areas of high deprivation."