Success stories: The CAS Quality Framework

‘As always thank you for your brilliant help.

Community Action Suffolk’s Quality Standard provides an effective way to ensure our charity’s policies and procedures are current and relevant. The resources available include model policies and procedures and the framework provides a good structure for reviewing our compliance. Jacqui Wilkinson and the team at CAS provide great support to help organisations work through the assessment. Having appropriate policies and procedures contribute to managing our organisation well and providing a high quality of service’. – Suffolk Artlink December 2022

The Befriending Scheme has been providing quality services for vulnerable people throughout Suffolk for over 30 years.

We offer a huge range of services including social groups for people with learning disabilities (Hub groups), care farming sessions at our Community Care Farm in Lindsey, children’s groups, (Little Steps Together) ,  ‘Mindful Mondays’ (a group for women struggling with long term, low level mental health issues), SEND Family farm days, FortKnights (Youth groups) and of course our One to One befriending services. We are incredibly proud of the work that we do across the county and by successfully completing the CAS Quality Standards Award we could ensure that we were fully recognised as an outstanding professional organisation’.

As a charity, a large amount of the work we do across the county is reliant upon our fund-raising efforts. This award enables us to demonstrate to potential funders our commitment to good practice and good governance and evidences that we are an organisation that commands respect and can be trusted. This recognition and achievement also give our members and those that we provide services to, increased confidence in the charity.

When The Befriending Scheme began it mainly supported adults and young people who have learning disabilities. Over the years the charity has extended it’s reach and for the last several years has worked with a much broader range of individuals and groups. The Quality Standards Award was a good way for us to ensure that we were working at a consistently high level throughout our service delivery and safely meeting the needs of all of these groups, particularly with regard to safeguarding.

It was hard work at times to ensure that we would be able to achieve the award, but we certainly learnt a lot as we worked through it, and the support provided by CAS along the way, was just fantastic.

Achieved Quality Standard January 2023

As a voluntary project, we are strong supporters of the Quality Standard and consider the significant amount of time and effort to go through the application process as well spent. In addition, the Project is hoping to register with the Charity Commission in 2022 and we are in no doubt that the Quality Standard we have achieved will help to ensure the registration process goes smoothly.

 We undertake detached youth work in the community with young people who are involved in antisocial behaviour in Suffolk and Norfolk

 The Project was formed by a very small but concerned group of individuals with experience in undertaking detached youth work in the Summer/Autumn of 2011 to provide a resource to local councils and community groups. We target and try to improve specific problems that young people aged 13 – 24 years encounter who are involved in antisocial behaviour and enable them to participate in the community where they live. These problems include NEET (not in education, employment or training), drugs & alcohol, sexual health and teenage pregnancy amongst other issues…

At the Project’s inaugural meeting back in 2011, the Trustees and detached youth workers identified the achievement of the Quality Standard as key to enable us to demonstrate to clients, donors and supporters that we have robust, independently reviewed policies in place and that we take a clear, safe and transparent professional approach to our detached work. We have consistently met the Quality Standard since our inception, and are proud to have once again achieved it in 2021.

As a voluntary project, we are strong supporters of the Quality Standard and consider the significant amount of time and effort to go through the application process as well spent. In addition, the Project is hoping to register with the Charity Commission in 2022 and we are in no doubt that the Quality Standard we have achieved will help to ensure the registration process goes smoothly.

The Project uses face to face negotiation and dialogue, to engage with and to challenge young people’s attitudes and behaviour where they impact negatively on themselves and the local community. It supports meaningful participation of young people in political decision making processes, ensuring their voices are heard and support the progressive personal development of all young people. Our detached workers are qualified youth workers, extensively trained in various disciplines and have been working with young people in various roles in Lowestoft and surrounding areas for a number of years. The most senior youth worker having been active in this type of work for about 20 years.

IMPACT Detached Project believes there is strong and clear evidence that youth workers engaging with young people in their own environment achieve positive results for the young people and the local community.  The detached workers have been asked by agencies including Suffolk Police, District and Parish Councils, youth and community organisations to work with young people identified as ‘at risk’ of or engaging in offending behaviour. The Covid flu pandemic of the last two years has presented some very special, previously unknown challenges for all. IMPACT has recognised many of these and developed procedures to ensure that not only can support be given to the young people but that it is done so with minimal risk to our detached workers. Generally due to the weather, December and January are traditionally quiet months for the team who will be out again in force in February.

Achieved 2021