OWB volunteer Christina Aitchison was until now one of the festival's "unsung heroes." Christina is based in the northwest England and juggles volunteer duties for One World Beat with pursuing an MA in Peace and Conflict and looking after her two-year-old daughter. Besides music, she loves travel, snowboarding, swimming, canoeing and walking. She was a UN volunteer in Iraq and Jordan the summer of 2003 with a Swiss de-mining team and the Humanitarian Air Service. She was the first UK volunteer on board for the 2004 festival, signing up as an NGO coordinator. It's fair to say her volunteer duties have branched out since then.

Christina organized the The Bobbin in Lancaster March 19 event. In addition she has taken on special projects. Christina has worked tirelessly researching websites and on projects designed to get more artists and music websites involved. She is working with UK volunteer coordinator, Mark Roach, on a project to invite musicians in countries all over the world to take part in this year's festival.

"Christina is an invaluable member of the volunteer team," says Mark. "She's come up with some great results from her research and the various projects with which she has been involved. This festival is not just about artists uniting all over the world to make a difference, there are many volunteers in many countries all doing their bit to make things happen. Volunteers like Christina are a key part of making One World Beat 2004 a highly successful festival."