I am very proud that Hope has been given the Trusted Charity Mark by NCVO.
This is the third award Hope new holds: TCM, Investing in Volunteering and the Social Mark for social enterprise.
The TCM is the most satisfying because it is the most thorough, covering almost every aspect of our work, focusing on governance, processes and systems. Evaluation is rigorous and comprehensive, and it has taken a huge amount of investment of time and effort. We know our governance is good, but having an external, respected organisation that represents our sector recognise this is invaluable. It means that commissioners and grant makers, as well as service users and donors, can be assured their money is going to a good place marked by the highest standards of service delivery that our service users will receive.
As a CEO, it is my responsibility, with my board, to ensure quality, and I take quality very seriously. At a personal level I value this award as an external validation of my commitment and management. But I also know that this is an award for team effort and I thank my board, my chair Ben Leadsom, and my assistant Tina Tanner, who worked so hard on this, as well as my SMT, for what we have collectively achieved. It is a proud day.