The Dumfries and Galloway Hard of Hearing Group has achieved the prestigious Investing in Volunteers Award.
The national award is independently scrutinised and confirms that the charity has achieved the highest standard of volunteer management.
It comes after a lengthy process of reviewing and improving all aspects of volunteering within the organisation.
The charity’s Chairperson Ann Ferguson said “This is not an easy award to achieve. It required us to examine, and where necessary, improve our volunteer recruitment, management and support, including how we inform and involve our volunteers in all that we do.”
Jon Joy, a volunteer who runs one of the charity’s care and maintenance drop-in clinics in Whithorn, was delighted with the news.
“At a time when we are bombarded with so much bad news, it’s great that the charity and especially the volunteers who deliver the services have succeeded in their efforts to achieve this significant award,” he said. “We certainly have a lot to celebrate”
Service Coordinator Sian Woolner’s response was to thank all of the volunteers for embracing the challenges and opportunities going for the award has brought.
She said: “This is the culmination of months of work, but it has been so rewarding”
Sian encouraged other organisations with volunteers to consider applying.
She added: “No organisation should be afraid of closely examining what they do and to be told at the end that we have reached the high standards required for this award has just been fantastic”
Investing in Volunteers is the UK quality standard for all organisations which involve volunteers in their work. It is owned by the UK Volunteering Forum on which Scotland is represented by Volunteer Scotland.
In the last year, Dumfries and Galloway Hard of Hearing Group has:
- Held 363 Hearing Aid Care and Maintenance Drop-in Clinics, in 20 different locations across the region covering from Stranraer to Langholm
- Helped nearly 5,000 people by maintaining over 9,000 hearing aids and advising on the care & maintenance of their hearing aids
- Made almost 400 referrals to NHS Audiology and helped 36 people access specialist technical help with communication, including TV loop systems and telephone amplifiers.
- Provided a home visit service for people unable to attend a drop in and supports residents in 20 care homes by maintaining their hearing aids
- Delivered its services with just over 50 highly-skilled volunteers
