THE CHARITY behind a Wrexham recovery hub has been awarded the Trusted Charity mark – recognising the excellent work it does as one of Wales’ leading third sector organisations.

CAIS, which operates Champions’ House on Grove Park Road, was given the accolade by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations following a rigorous period of assessment.

Chief executive Clive Wolfendale said he was delighted to have received the accreditation – and thanked CAIS staff for their hard work towards securing it.

“This significant mark demonstrates to all our supporters and stakeholders, and most importantly to the people who rely on our services, that we operate to the highest standards – and will give them confidence that this organisation is well run, accountable and transparent,” he said.

“Our staff teams have long acted in line with or exceeded best practice principles for our sector, but it is gratifying to receive external validation of our efforts and have our approach underlined by this award. Gaining the Trusted Charity mark is a real achievement for everyone at CAIS."

The Trusted Charity mark is the only UK quality standard designed to help third sector organisations operate more effectively and efficiently.

CAIS empowers change in the lives of more than 8,000 people every year, through a wide range of services for people affected by addiction, adverse mental health, unemployment, offending and other life challenges.

Llandudno-based CAIS was assessed against and met 11 standards of effective practice – with categories including governance, leadership and management, staff and volunteers, and financial processes.

Nadeem Razvi, Trusted Charity programme manager at the NCVO, said: “We are delighted that the trustees, staff and volunteers of CAIS can celebrate having achieved the Trusted Charity mark.

“We know that organisations using the Trusted Charity standard benefit by having better governance, better systems and procedures and better quality of services for their users.”

CAIS already holds Investors in Volunteers status, a mark of sector-leading work in the field of volunteering. The endorsement, awarded by the WCVA, aims to improve the quality of the volunteering experience, and to encourage organisations to better recognise the enormous contribution made by volunteers.

The organisation also holds Investors in People and Disability Confident Employer status, plus the Healthy Working Wales Corporate Health Standard bronze award.

More information about the work of CAIS is available at www.cais.co.uk.