Accreditation is the formal recognition of an individual's achievements and is linked to an internal or external standard.  Getting your volunteer training programme accredited may be something that would be of benefit to your organisation and your volunteers.

Getting your training accredited looks at the different types of accreditation available and lists the main awarding bodies offering accreditation services.  It also looks at the resourcing implications in terms of time and cost for the organisation and looks at the availability of grants.

Accreditation - qualifications and training

Last year, MBF circulated a survey to organisations seeking the views of scheme co-ordinators and volunteers about the development of a national award/qualification structure for mentoring and befriending.

Over 700 scheme co-ordinators and volunteers responded to the survey indicating the strong level of interest in this issue.  97% of coordinators who responded said they would support the development of an award for volunteers and scheme coordinators. 87% of volunteers said they were currently unable to achieve a qualification with 81% saying they would be interested in achieving a qualification if one was available.

As a follow up to that survey, a small number of workshops were held acorss the country to discuss the options for developing an award/qualification structure and to identify the key knowledge/skills reuired by volunteer mentors/befrienders and scheme coordinators.  The findings from these workshops are now contained in a report with recommendations for the way forward.

The next phase of this work will involve talking to relevant Sector Skills Councils as well as awarding bodies and other key organisations in the sector to obtain support for the development of a national award/qualification structure.