London Youth Quality Mark Programme
London Youth has been delivering quality assurance work with our members for many years now. The Quality Mark is our flagship offer and is delivered in three tiers (Bronze, Silver and Gold). Our Quality Mark programmes support youth organisations in London to achieve the highest standards of youth work and informal education and help ensure that young people receive the quality of service and provision they need and deserve.
Completing a Quality Mark provides youth organisations with a badge of excellence that is recognised and respected by many local authorities and funders. There is also a financial incentive to undertake a quality mark with us; as organisations can apply for a grant once they achieve it (this is subject to funding).
“Undertaking the Quality Mark allowed us to rethink our physical space and explore where there are opportunities to make our environment as safe, secure and inclusive as possible. The process also enabled us to embed some of our learning across our policies and procedures. Achieving the Quality Mark has demonstrated to our partner organisations and funders that we’re serious about improving not just our programmes of work, but our practice as a charitable organisation.” – Lewisham Music
Quality Mark Levels
The Quality Mark has been developed specifically for organisations delivering youth work in London.
There are three levels in our Quality Assurance programme: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Each level will assess your organisation against several criteria, including outcomes and aims for young people, safeguarding, diversity and inclusion, health and safety, partnerships, leadership and management.
The Quality Marks must be completed in order, starting with the Bronze. Quality Marks are assessed separately and cannot be taken on at the same time. All London Youth Quality Marks are valid for a total of three years. You must have a valid Quality Mark to move on to the next level.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the Quality Assurance programme, organisations will need to be:
- A member of London Youth (2024– 2025 membership).
- An organisation which delivers direct youth work to young people.
- Delivering most of their youth work in London.
Note: Umbrella or multi-site organisations are not eligible to undertake the quality mark. However, individual venues or clubs that are a part of umbrella organisations can. They must join London Youth as individual members first. Apply for membership here.
If your organisation is an unincorporated community group – you are not eligible for the Quality Assurance programme. If you require support or guidance regarding your organisation’s development, please email membership@londonyouth.org.
Quality Mark Grants
London Youth can offer grants to organisations completing a Quality Mark thanks to the generous donations of our supporters and grant funders. As such, this feature of our offer to members is subject to us securing sufficient funds to distribute.
Organisations that achieve a Quality Mark can claim a grant for each level of Quality Mark they achieve.
- Bronze – Organisations that achieve this Quality Mark level for the first time can claim a £2,000
- Silver – Organisations that achieve this Quality Mark level for the first time can claim a £1,500
- Gold – Organisations that achieve this Quality Mark level for the first time can claim a £1,500
Members can claim a total of £5,000 for completing all three Quality Mark levels.
We are unable to offer a grant for revalidating a Quality Mark. This may be something we offer in the future depending on funding.
If you have any questions about our Quality Mark grants, please email qualitymark@londonyouth.org and a member of the team will get back to you.
About the Quality Marks & Validation
London Youth Quality Marks are valid for three years from the date they were awarded. The Bronze Quality Mark is validated by OCN London. Being Validated by OCN means that our work as an assessing body is checked by an external organisation to ensure we are offering a good quality and standardised service.
Resource Library
London Youth has created a resource library to support you in undertaking a Quality Mark. The library currently provides comprehensive tools and resources for the Bronze Quality Mark. We are working on developing the same for the Silver and Gold levels (this will be created once the redesign for both Silver and Gold frameworks has been completed).
You can access our free Resources Library here.
Please get in touch if there are any resources you require from us, or would like to see featured in the resources library (for any Quality Mark level).
We encourage our members to share good practices and useful tools. If you want us to feature one of your resources in our library, please reach out to the Quality Mark Team at qualitymark@londonyouth.org.
