Recognition for effective governance and management in voluntary organisations

Carers Leeds has recently achieved the Trusted Charity Mark award recognising the excellent work it does as a third sector organisation in England.

Val Hewison, Carers Leeds Chief Executive said:

“I am beyond delighted that Carers Leeds has been awarded the Trusted Charity Mark. In the assessor’s report, they noted that Carers Leeds is a people focused organisation and that the team show a high level of passion and commitment to service quality. This really sums up the drive and passion we have to support unpaid carers.

This would have been a welcomed achievement in normal circumstances but achieving this award after the last year of surviving the pandemic means so much to me and the team. It shows that in spite of all of the challenges we’ve faced, we are stronger together and will always put carers at the heart of all we do. Just brilliant!”

Trusted Charity is part of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and is the only UK quality standard designed to help third sector organisations operate more effectively and efficiently.  Carers Leeds was assessed against the 11 standards of effective practice in Trusted Charity, including in governance, leadership and management, managing staff and volunteers and managing money, and proved to meet all standards.

Carers Leeds is a charity that gives free support, advice and information to unpaid carers aged over 16. They do this through one to one and group support in local communities, over the phone and online.

There are over 74,000 carers in Leeds, and this number has likely increased through the pandemic. A carer is anyone who looks after a friend or relative who relies on their help due to their physical or mental illness, disability, or a substance misuse problem.

Nick Snow, Trusted Charity Programme Manager, NCVO said “We are delighted for the trustees, staff and volunteers of Carers Leeds that they have achieved the Trusted Charity Mark. We know that organisations using the Trusted Charity standard benefit by having better governance, better systems and procedures and better quality of services for their users and it is great that the community of Trusted Charity users in England is growing”.