The SEND Project have recently achieved the Investing in Volunteers Quality Standard, recognising the excellent work they do with volunteers.

Investing in Volunteers is the UK quality standard for all organisations involving volunteers. Investing in Volunteers aims to improve the quality of the volunteering experience for all volunteers and for organisations to acknowledge the enormous contribution made by their volunteers. Investing in Volunteers is Managed by the UK Volunteering Forum and delivered by Volunteering England, Volunteer Development Scotland, Volunteer Development Agency in Northern Irelnad and Wales Council for Voluntary action.

The SEND Project was assessed against a range of best practice standards and proved to excel in all aspects of working with its volunteers.

Investing in Volunteers is unique in that it is the only standard that focuses on volunteers. It is based on four areas of volunteer management; planning for volunteer involvement, recruiting volunteers, selecting and matching volunteers and supporting and retaining volunteers. Further information about the standard can be found on www.investinginvolunteers.org.uk. The standard will enhance volunteer management and is rigorous but designed to be simple to implement and not to generate large amounts of paperwork. It is the only quality standard that has independent external validation with a UK quality assurance panel that makes recommendations to the UK Volunteering Forum, the awarding body.