London Youth celebrates 7 years of the Quality Mark
08 July 2016
To commemorate the seven year anniversary of the London Youth Quality Mark, the next 12 clubs that achieve the Gold Award will receive a special plaque to recognise their achievements in providing quality youth work. The gold award is an acknowledgement that the club is committed to continuous improvement and involves young people at all levels. These gold plaques are part of a reward scheme by London Youth and the City & Guilds Group to highlight the valuable contributions youth clubs make to their local communities.
Last week, member club, Cedars Youth and Community Centre, were the first to be presented with their gold plaque to coincide with a visit from London Youth’s patron, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh.
Steve Williams, Head of Facilities & Inclusion at Cedars Youth and Community Centre commented:
“The whole team were so excited to welcome HRH Prince Phillip to our MyPlace centre; it means so much to everyone and endorses all of their hard work since we opened just four years ago. The fact that we have been successful with the London Youth Gold Quality Mark award simultaneously with the royal visit is just amazing. Having gained this award means that hopefully we can use it to demonstrate our core qualities to convince prospective charities and foundations that we are a reputable deliverer of young people programmes and projects and are worthy of future support.”
The London Youth Quality Mark was founded in 2009 to acknowledge organisations that are doing the best they can to transform the lives of young people. Funded by the City Bridge Trust, it is the only quality assurance scheme for organisations working with young people that is accredited by the City & Guilds Group and, uniquely, involving young people in the assessment. Over the last 7 years London Youth has helped over 200 organisations across London to achieve accreditation through the Quality Mark.
Speaking about the importance of ensuring quality provision in the youth sector, Director of Membership and Communications, Jim Minton said:
“It is more important than ever that young people have access to services that can support them to gain the confidence resilience and networks that will help them succeed in life. The London Youth Quality Mark helps organisations to be better managed, focus on what is important, engage young people and operate safely and effectively so those outcomes are achieved.
“We’re so grateful for the continued and generous support of City & Guilds in helping to acknowledge the valuable contribution youth clubs have on changing the lives of young Londoners.”
Commenting on the new gold plaques, Marcia Asare, Sustainability Manager at the City & Guilds Group said:
“We’re delighted to be recognising the brilliant work that Cedars Youth and Community Centre does through this gold plaque. All of the youth clubs that have achieved our quality mark do so much to support young people in their communities so they truly deserve this recognition. I am sure they will continue to make a significant difference to their communities in the future.”
If you would like to find out more about how your youth club can benefit from the London Youth Quality Mark, or maybe even consider progressing up to the Gold level, please visit our website here, or call 020 7549 8800 and ask to speak to someone in our Membership Development Team.
