Halton and St Helens VCA launched the STAR standard in order to encourage and enable voluntary, community and faith sector groups to demonstrate their value, effectiveness and contribution to local agendas.
As commissioning groups look more and more to organisations to prove that they work well and achieve results the STAR standard is a practical and relevant approach that local commissioners recognise. So much so, NHS Halton and St Helens Audit Committee has ratified the standard as a progressive way forward working with local voluntary sector providers.
The STAR standard is an externally assessed quality standard that has been developed with two main purposes in mind:
- To demonstrate the quality of systems and services of voluntary, community and faith organisations
- To identify gaps and areas for development to improve delivery and funding opportunities
The standard is presented in the form of a work pack, which contains nine sections, all of which have been developed with a focus upon organisational activity:
- Purpose, position and responsibility
- Planning, reviewing and managing
- Your people
- Your relationships
- Managing your money and resources
- Your services and customers
- Being clear, fair and accessible
- Being prepared, managing risk and safeguarding
- Making a difference
Each of the nine sections is then further divided into a number of criteria. To complete the STAR standard, you are expected to demonstrate how you meet the criteria by gathering evidence. Evidence is completed for an office based review and through the use of an evidence record booklet. Following this there is a full audit when trustees, staff and volunteers are interviewed and documentation is evidenced on site.
By achieving the STAR standard you can demonstrate that you make a difference, that you listen to service users and stakeholders feedback and that you manage your finances in a way that proves you are sustainable, now and in the future. STAR also enables you to have confidence that your group is ready and able to deliver your services to a recognised standard - a standard that commissioners and funders will want to invest in.
Within this catalogue you will notice that the profile pages of the groups that have already achieved the standard are highlighted with the STAR flag.
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