Getting serious, because we are:
Ensuring SAFE remains known for delivering the highest standards of professional practice, continually improving our methods and approaches to community engagement and demonstrating robust financial and risk control are key management tasks.
We appreciate the need to provide commissioners and partner organisations with evidence of how we operate in the best interests of our communities of interest, staff and other stakeholders in our day-to-day operations. This is a critical aspect of successfully entering public and private sector procurement arrangements, to be ‘tender ready’ and we are responding by working to implement two recognised Quality Assurance systems:
matrix Standard
for the effective delivery of information, advice and/or guidance on learning and work
SAFE are working in partnership with Greater Merseyside Advancement Network Prototype to reach assessment and subsequent accreditation by March 2010. The prototype is being led by VOLA; see www.advancemersey.org
The key benefit of this initiative will lie in enabling us to deliver recognised standards of information, advice and guidance services to our communities of interest. It helps us to position SAFE in readiness for the national introduction of the Adult Advancement and Careers Service (AACS) in Summer 2010, the vision for which is individually tailored packages of support for people 19+ to assist them in learning, work and life choices.
We are fortunate in being a delivery partner throughout 2009-2010 in a European Social Fund Innovation and Transnational Project being led by Social Enterprise Network, a Merseyside-based network of non-profit distributing businesses and community and voluntary sector organisations (www.sen.org.uk). We will make the most of this work-based opportunity to:
- support an agreed number of artists, creative practitioners and/or people in the creative industries who are either unemployed or facing unemployment, to secure their future aspirations
- concurrently develop the internal policy and procedural systems to assure matrix Standard accreditation
PQASSO
Practical Quality Assurance System for Small Organisations (Charities Evaluation Services)
As a small organisation SAFE must balance the need to evidence its effectiveness and efficiency with the fact that staff time and resources are limited. We are committed however to embedding the principles of PQASSO within our everyday working patterns. We believe it will prove beneficial both now and especially in the future as the company grows and extends its range of services.
We view the adoption of these Quality Assurance Systems as a pillar of our practice. They will help us enhance our knowledge and understanding, maximise outcomes and outputs from our intellectual and practical means of operation and, importantly, establish the credibility of our transferable skills as the company diversifies.
For more detailed information on these standards and what we expect to achieve through them, please download our Quality and Continuous Improvement policy in pdf format here.
