An Edinburgh based charity which assists older and disabled people to live securely and independently in their own homes, has been recognised again for its best practice in volunteering and volunteer management.

Care and Repair Edinburgh is a Scottish charity governed by a board of directors who give their time voluntarily. There are thirteen paid staff and 30 volunteers.

The charity offers a range of services, from small DIY repairs carried out for free by volunteers, to larger domestic improvements and home-from-hospital adaptations, arranged via its trades list of trusted professionals.

As a sign of commitment to its growing group of volunteers, Care and Repair Edinburgh undertook Volunteer Scotland’s Investing in Volunteers (liV) programme and achieved its IiV Award in 2013. The award has now been renewed for a further period of three years, following a six month renewal process led by the charity’s Volunteer Officer, Yvonne Georgeson.

IiV is the UK quality standard for all organisations that involve volunteers in their work.

Louise Love, interim CEO of Care and Repair Edinburgh, said: “Achieving the renewal of our IiV award from Volunteer Scotland means that we have been able to benchmark the quality of our volunteer management and involvement and improve the effectiveness of our work with volunteers.

“Over the past six months a number of our staff, volunteers and board members have been interviewed by an IiV assessor, and we have been graded on a renewal checklist based on nine key indicators and 46 practices. A report was submitted to the UK Quality Assurance Panel and then on to the UK Volunteering Forum Awarding Panel for ratification.”

Yvonne Georgeson, volunteer officer, added: “Care and Repair Edinburgh is proud to be an IiV achiever, having received the award in 2016 for the 2nd time. We value our volunteers and remain committed to volunteering within our organisation.

“We are always looking to expand our volunteer group, so if you are good at DIY or IT/Technical basic fixes, or know of someone who is, we would love to hear from you. Contact us on 0131 337 1111 or email Reception@careandrepairedinburgh.org.uk.”

In 2015, Care and Repair Edinburgh helped more than 5,000 older and disabled people stay safely in their own homes and carried out 1,370 small DIY jobs. Volunteers offer assistance with a wide range of tasks including changing light bulbs, tuning televisions, setting up a computer or putting up shelves.