Eastbourne and Wealden community mediation service Mediation Plus is having a triple celebration after being awarded the Bronze, Silver and
Gold "SQP" quality mark for their intergenerational mediation service Time2Talk
by East Sussex young people's services network SPARK.
The "SQP" - or "Simple Quality Protects" - awards were made
for demonstrating that Mediation Plus achieved a wide range of quality standards
including safeguarding training, protecting confidentiality, a volunteer code of
conduct and risk assessment. Mediation Plus were one of only two East Sussex
organisations awarded all three levels of accreditation at the recent SPARK Awards at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill.
Service Manager Clive Gross said "Having a locally devised and
run quality assurance mark specifically aimed at smaller charitable
organisations that allows them to independently demonstrate the quality of their
services without the prohibitive cost and administrational burdens of others
such as ISO or Investors in People is a real boost for services like ours.
Service users, local agencies and funders all quite rightly want to be sure that
the voluntary sector organisations they work with have high professional
standards, and SQP helps us to offer them that reassurance."
While the SQP mark was specifically aimed at the Time2Talk
service for young people and their families, which is currently funded by BBC
Children in Need, the accreditation process also helped to ensure that the other
mediation services being offered by Mediation Plus were also up to the mark.
Chair of Trustees Barbara Molog added "While we were confident
we have always provided high quality services to our communities, going through
this process with SPARK made us think through everything we do again
and refresh our systems and procedures. We now have everything in one place so
that we can better maintain our standards of service in the future, and will
fully involve our Trustees, staff team and volunteers in ensuring we
do."
The SQP Awards round off a successful year for Mediation Plus,
with Barbara herself having already won the Wealden District Council "Trustee of
the Year" award a few months ago and the organizations' recent AGM welcoming two
new Trustees onto their Board. Barbara added "As with all small Charitable Organisations, there is a
constant need to keep a tight reign on expenditure as well as trying to maintain
and grow the services and activities we offer, and it is thanks to all the team
in our Hailsham office and the dedication of over 50 volunteer mediators in the
community that we have managed to achieve this for another year."
Photo: (L-R) Service Manager Clive Gross,
Casework Administrator Catherine Lulham and Time2Talk Coordinator Joan Eades
with Mediation Plus's Gold, Silver and Bronze SQP Award
certificates.
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