We are committed to high quality youth work and strive to support our members to achieve the highest standard they can. The Quality Mark is London Youth’s flagship Quality Assurance programme. It provides your organisation with a badge of excellence, recognised by local authorities and funders.
Quality Mark Levels
- Bronze focuses on the policies and procedures that organisations need to have in place to ensure they operate legally and in a safe and safe environment.
- Silver examines the opportunities provided to young people, as well as their training and support provided to staff and volunteers.
- Gold is a badge of excellence for youth organisations that are committed to continuous improvement through the involvement of young people in their organisational development.
At each level of the Quality Mark, we will assess your organisation against several criteria, including safeguarding, diversity and inclusion, health and safety, outcomes for young people, partnerships, leadership, and more. The Quality Mark has been developed specifically for youth organisations and uniquely involves young people in the process.
Impact
In 2015 the external evaluation of the London Youth Quality Mark found that:
- 81% of organisations implemented formal continuous improvement processes as a result of completing the London Youth Quality Mark.
- 84% now have a robust, regularly reviewed set of policies in place.
- Meaningful involvement of young people in decision-making increased, with over two-thirds of organisations now involving young people at a high level, up from half of the organisations previously.
- Participating organisations also reported that the London Youth Quality Mark helped to motivate staff and volunteers, helped generate funding and increased clubs’ influence with local stakeholders
Support
If you want to achieve a Quality Mark, our team will support you throughout the process. We’ll invite you to an introductory meeting where we will explain the process and go over the indicators with you, helping you to get started collecting evidence. We’ll be on hand throughout to keep you on track and answer any questions about the indicators and what evidence is acceptable. Your team will be able to access our free training, including on risk assessment, safeguarding, premises management and youth engagement, helping you improve your practice in these areas. We can also signpost you to resources, templates and best practices to support you on the journey.
Getting Started
If you would like to find out more about the Quality Mark, please contact your Membership Development Officer, or email the team on membership@londonyouth.org.
