CSV Make a Difference Day is the UK’s largest day of volunteering. It takes place this year on Saturday, October 31, with other activities from October 24 – November 7.

As part of the celebration locally, the Volunteer Centre Oxfordshire is organising a Volunteering Information Fair in Abingdon.

The aim is not only to celebrate the part played by the Voluntary Sector in Oxfordshire, but also enable local organisations to have a stand displaying information showing what they do, so that anyone interested in volunteering can come along and see what’s on offer locally.

Organisations such as Guide Dogs for the Blind, Go Active and the South & Vale Carers Centre will be represented. One of the activities you can become involved with in the meantime is Post Pals.

Two hundred volunteers are being asked to follow the ‘five easy steps to make a sick child smile’.

You can send a card, letter or email, or even a small gift to a seriously ill child (most of these children have cancer, or are undergoing a transplant).

You will really make their day, and in turn, it will make you smile too. To find out more about this simple task, which can be done from the comfort of your own home, please visit: www.postpals.uk or email: viks@postpals.co.uk or telephone Vicki George on: 01372 453040. Also, for Make a Difference Day, Sue Ryder Care shops across the region are asking for people to pledge an hour of their time by volunteering, or to donate a treasured item that can be sold, so that the money can be converted into care.

By supporting Sue Ryder Care, people can help them to continue providing end of life and long term care for people with progressive neurological conditions.

For more information, either visit any Sue Ryder Care charity shop, or visit: www.suerydercare.org This year’s Make a Difference Day will hopefully be even more successful than last year, which was held in the Clarendon Centre, Oxford.

“It’s a really great opportunity to find out about volunteering opportunities you can get involved with locally, meet some of the organisations who need volunteers and see how you can help” says Volunteer Centre Manager, Lindsay Watts.

The event will run in the Roysse Room at Abingdon Guildhall, 10am-4pm on Saturday, October 31, and there will also be volunteers in the Market Place publicising the event and directing the public in to the exhibition. “We hope you will want to be part of the Abingdon Volunteering Information Fair!” she adds. For more information see www.ocva.org.uk or call 01865 251946.

l To contribute to this column email voluntaryvoice@ocva.org.uk