Lady Gaga and N-Dubz first to sign up to play Orange RockCorps 2009 volunteer gig

Give, Get Given: 13,000 volunteers to earn tickets to exclusive gigs in Manchester, London, and Paris

Pop sensation Lady GaGa and award-winning N-Dubz will perform at an exclusive gig in Manchester on 13th July for thousands of volunteers. For its second year, Orange RockCorps, the music-led volunteer programme, will give people in Manchester and London the chance to earn a money-can’t-buy ticket to an all-star gig in their home city in return for four hours hard graft at community-based charity projects. Both shows, and a selection of the preceding volunteer projects, will also be televised on Channel 4 throughout the summer.

The Programme will continue with a series of four-hour projects in Paris, followed by a gig for volunteers at Le Zenith on 2nd October.

Stephen Greene, RockCorps co-founder and CEO said: “We are excited to be back bigger than before with Orange RockCorps. Lady GaGa is a phenomenal artist and rare talent – we are thrilled that she is performing for 3000 volunteers in Manchester. Together with N-Dubz and some surprises yet to come, the Manchester Apollo will rock on July 13th….celebrating the work of the volunteers. Its’ going to be a party this summer… but a party that benefits the community.

Spencer McHugh, Brand Director at Orange UK commented: “Orange RockCorps is a way for young people to experience the value of creating something together. It shows that you can achieve more as a group than as an individual and the gig is an amazing way to incentivise to get involved.”

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "This is a fantastic initiative that really drives home the message that hard work reaps rewards. Orange RockCorps boosts community spirit and encourages young people to make a real difference by volunteering for charitable projects. As well as attending a great concert, young people will gain discipline and team working skills that will benefit them for life.”

To launch this year’s expanded programme, N-Dubz will today swap the mic for the shovel to help volunteers at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, East London, transform a deconsecrated cemetery into a woodland retreat for nearby residents. The hip hop three-piece will join forty young volunteers for a four-hour project that will involve chopping down trees and hacking back centuries of overgrowth.

Meanwhile, volunteers in Manchester will take part in a four-hour project at Hulme Community Garden Centre – a charity that addresses poverty, joblessness and climate change – in a deprived area of the city near Moss Side. During the four-hour project, volunteers will paint murals, plant vegetables and build pathways made from recycled glass.

Both launch projects address the social issues – run-down urban environments, climate change and lack of job opportunities – that new research by Orange RockCorps reveals young Britons to be most concerned about. The research, in which more than 1,500 young Britons participated, examines the impact of the recession on young people’s attitudes to society. Over forty percent of 16-24 year olds feel that the downturn has given them a better sense of perspective on the issues that really matter, with a more than a fifth saying that the recession has actually inspired them to make more of a difference in their community.

Volunteers wishing to take part in Orange RockCorps can register by visiting www.orangerockcorps.co.uk http://www.orangerockcorps.co.uk

Lady GaGa and N-Dubz will perform alongside other star acts and DJ’s at the Manchester Apollo on 13th July in the first part of a five-month programme. Further acts for Manchester and a new stellar line-up for London’s Royal Albert Hall (26th September) will be announced in coming months. Each of the shows will feature an eclectic line-up of international acts.

Eight thousand Britons and five thousand Parisians will take part in up to 150 charity projects over the summer. All volunteers are encouraged to strike up long-term relationships with local charity partners that include Lifeshare, The Mersey Basin campaign, Nacro, without the lure of a gig ticket.

Last year, 5,000 young people in the UK took part in Orange RockCorps, earning tickets to see the stellar line up Busta Rhymes, Ludacris, The Automatic, John Legend, Feeder, Lethal Bizzle and Guillemots perform at the Royal Albert Hall. Collectively, volunteers worked 20,000 hours at 55 projects, helping 41 charity partners. 96 percent of those who took part last year intend to volunteer on an Orange RockCorps project again, and 57 percent said they would volunteer for their local community without the incentive of a ticket.

The Orange RockCorps programme will also be amplified via a partnership with Sony Ericsson and Channel 4, who will broadcast the volunteer work and UK gigs during a summer of programming on T4.

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For more information, please contact Phil Drew at Unity on 0207 405 0974 ex 204 /07725986509 or phil@hellounity.com or Gemma Hunt at Unity on 0207 405 0974 ex 203 / 07974139884 or Gemma@hellounity.com

Notes to editor

About the research

The Orange RockCorps ‘Society Matters’ survey involved 1,547 UK residents aged 16 - 24 between 30th April and 19th May 2009 via the UK’s no.1 website for students, www.studentbeans.com and orangerockcorps.co.uk

Orange RockCorps:

The Orange RockCorps programme, a partnership between Orange and RockCorps, inspires young people to volunteer within their local community by producing concerts for which you can’t buy a ticket. Rather, you must do 4 hours of volunteer work in a RockCorps volunteer project to earn a ticket to the gig. All volunteer projects are completed in partnership and for the benefit of local charity partners. Research has shown that over 96% of the participants would volunteer with Orange RockCorps again, and 57% would volunteer in their local community without the incentive of a ticket.

RockCorps:

RockCorps launched in 2005 to affect social change and act as the bridge between communities in need and the young adults who want to make them better. Since that time, RockCorps has combined the power of music, community and volunteerism to expose young people to simple ways they can proactively contribute.

This is much more than a series of volunteer events and concerts; it is a way to connect young people with dynamic charities already doing great work in the local community.

For more information: www.orangerockcorps.co.uk, www. rockcorps.com

Orange:

Orange is the key brand of the France Telecom Group, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators. With 123 million customers, the Orange brand now covers Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the Group operates.

At the end of 2008, France Telecom had consolidated sales of 53.5 billion euros (12.7 billion euros for the first quarter of 2009) and at 29 April 2009, the Group had a customer base of almost 184 million customers in 30 countries. These include 123 million mobile customers worldwide and 13 million broadband Internet (ADSL) customers in Europe. Orange is the number three mobile operator and the number one provider of broadband Internet services in Europe and, under the brand Orange Business Services, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies.

In the UK, Orange provides high quality GSM coverage to 99% of the UK population. At the end of March 2009, Orange had almost 17 million customers in the UK – 15.8 million active mobile customers and close to one million fixed broadband customers.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trade marks of Orange Personal Communications Services Limited.

For more information: www.orange.com, www.francetelecom.com, www.orange-business.com For further information, call the Orange press office on 0870 373 1500 or email: Orangepr@golinharris.com.

Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson is a top, global industry player with sales of around 97 million phones in 2008. Diversity is one of the core strengths of the company, with operations in over 80 countries including manufacturing in China and R&D sites in China, Europe, India, Japan and North America. Sony Ericsson was established as a 50:50 joint venture by Sony and Ericsson in October 2001, with global corporate functions located in London. For more information about Sony Ericsson please visit www.sonyericsson.com.

Channel 4

Channel 4 Television Corporation is a statutory corporation, without shareholders, established by the Broadcasting Act 1990. Its remit requires the provision of a broad range of high quality and diverse programmes which: • Demonstrate innovation, experiment, creativity in form and content • Appeal to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society. • Include programmes of an educational nature. • Exhibit a distinctive character.

Channel 4 is the core public service channel available on the UK’s main digital broadcast platforms. The channel’s licence obligations include annual quotas on original, independent and regional production and weekly quotas governing news and current affairs and schools programmes. Year-to-date in 2007, Channel 4 has a 8.2 % share of the total TV audience.

XFM

Is the UK’s pioneering new music station, with an innovative music policy XFM champions new musical talent and embraces the UK’s passion for live music through gigs, live events and club nights.

Choice

Is a lifestyle brand for London’s 16-29 year olds who love hip hop and R&B and love music! The music proposition is supported by entertaining, real and relatable presenters, and its specialist output keeps Choice at the forefront of the UK Urban music scene.

Charity partners

Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park is a charity located in the heart of London's East End. The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park was set up in 1990 to encourage greater use of this inner urban green space as a sanctuary for people, a place of biodiversity, while protecting and preserving the historic content.

Hulme Community Garden Centre (HCGC) is a unique community led inner-city horticultural project operating in one of Manchester’s most deprived areas, Hulme and Moss Side. It provides a community garden space and runs free workshops for the local community, a wide range of socially excluded groups (in particular people with learning disabilities and/or mental health problems), schools and voluntary organisations. It also provides back to work and skills training and placements for longer-term unemployed people.

The Mersey Basin campaign is aiming to encourage waterside regeneration and improve water quality so that all rivers and streams can support fish by 2010. Working within the catchments of the River Mersey and the River Ribble the Mersey Basin Campaign is working hard to repair some of the damage left by the industrialisation of the regions rivers and to improve the environment

Nacro is a crime reduction charity, that helps to make society safer by finding practical solutions to reducing crime. Since 1966 they have given ex-offenders, disadvantaged people and deprived communities the help they need to build a better future http://www.nacro.org.uk/about/Committees.htm . 60,000 people benefit directly from their work each year.

Lifeshare is a charity that directly helps the homeless and disadvantaged of Manchester and Salford, offering practical assistance to people on the streets, giving support and information. Continued assistance is also offered to help people secure accommodation.