17 Jan 2007 - Quality Assured for Volunteers
Volunteering England has given Three Rivers Volunteer Centre full marks in its national quality accreditation scheme demanded of all Volunteer Centres. Without it we would no longer be able to call ourselves a Volunteer Centre.
The quality accreditation recognises the hard work put in by staff to promote volunteering, encourage a wider cross section of people to volunteer and also to enable charities and community organisations to be better managers of volunteers.
It also reflects the hard work put in by Lynn Green, our previous manager, who not only produced the outcomes but compiled the huge portfolio of evidence demanded by Volunteering England.
Despite operating on part-time hours since Lynn left, the Centre has continued to recruit and place volunteers, as well as working with members. We have our own volunteers to thank for this - in particular Roland Lewis and Joyce Howes - who have proved invaluable in supporting staff members Robert Bradshaw and Stephen Behrman in keeping the service going.
We were particularly pleased to receive this recognition on our first application. The accreditation process is rigorous and many other Volunteer Centres have failed on their first attempt.
Gaining quality accreditation involved demonstrating that we are achieving outcomes in all the six core functions of a Volunteer Centre: brokerage, marketing, good practice development, developing volunteering opportunities, policy resource and campaigning and strategic development of volunteering.
Our success is an encouragement to staff and volunteers who are maintaining a high level of service both to volunteers and to the organisations they go on to help. We look forward to being able to provide a full-time service again once a decision on our future funding is made by the Big Lottery Fund - or we find funding from elsewhere.
It also reflects the hard work put in by Lynn Green, our previous manager, who not only produced the outcomes but compiled the huge portfolio of evidence demanded by Volunteering England.
Despite operating on part-time hours since Lynn left, the Centre has continued to recruit and place volunteers, as well as working with members. We have our own volunteers to thank for this - in particular Roland Lewis and Joyce Howes - who have proved invaluable in supporting staff members Robert Bradshaw and Stephen Behrman in keeping the service going.
We were particularly pleased to receive this recognition on our first application. The accreditation process is rigorous and many other Volunteer Centres have failed on their first attempt.
Gaining quality accreditation involved demonstrating that we are achieving outcomes in all the six core functions of a Volunteer Centre: brokerage, marketing, good practice development, developing volunteering opportunities, policy resource and campaigning and strategic development of volunteering.
Our success is an encouragement to staff and volunteers who are maintaining a high level of service both to volunteers and to the organisations they go on to help. We look forward to being able to provide a full-time service again once a decision on our future funding is made by the Big Lottery Fund - or we find funding from elsewhere.