The Volunteer Centre Quality Accreditation (VCQA) is designed for volunteer centres and is open to both NAVCA members and non-members providing volunteer centre services in their local communities. It assesses organisations across the five functions of volunteer centres. NCVS is pleased to announce that it has obtained the VCQA. Dave Thomas, Volunteering Development Officer at NCVS, shares his feelings on this excellent news.
I am currently still skipping around the office because earlier this week we heard that NCVS has not only met all the requirements of the VCQA, we exceeded the requirements of the section covering Good Practice Development.
This means that we are now allowed to use a shiny new logo, which will slowly appear on our website and other places. The new logo will gradually replace the old Volunteer Centre logo that we have been using for many years, so it is with some nostalgia that we say goodbye.
The accreditation process has been fairly long and has challenged us to provide a lot of evidence to demonstrate that we meet the five functions of volunteer centres.
The five functions are:
- Strategic development of volunteering.
- Good practice development.
- Developing volunteering opportunities.
- Brokerage.
- Voice of volunteering.
Throughout the assessment process, it was the views of leaders of volunteers and external partners that carried the most weight, and I am proud to be part of a volunteering community that has said so many positive things about our support for volunteering.
One Leader of Volunteers said,
The support has made a huge difference to me. I don't think I would be half the volunteer manager I am now without their help and support.
Another said,
It built my confidence in what I was doing.
I am really grateful to everybody who gave their time to be interviewed by the assessor. Your brilliant feedback has been the key to us getting this quality award.
I would also like to thank all of my NCVS colleagues who supported the work that we did to submit the application for this award.
However, it is not just about us at NCVS basking in this positive news; it is your public reassurance that the support, advice, training, and representation that we provide meet the highest standards of good practice.
