FotO Earns 'Approved Provider Standard'
After 14 months of hard work and a month of (slightly) nervous waiting, we were delighted to learn this week that 'Friends on the Out' (FotO) has earned the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation's coveted 'Approved Provider Standard' for safe and effective practice in Mentoring!
Operated in partnership with the Government's Cabinet Office, Office of the Third Sector and the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation (MBF) is the national coordinating body for benchmarks and best practice in Mentoring and Befriending. The MBF administer the 'Approved Provider Standard' (APS), which is an exceedingly stringent and highly respected independent accreditation for organisations that offer a Mentoring service.
Achieving 'Approved Provider Standard' represents a huge affirmation of the vision, volunteers and values of FotO at all levels of the scheme. With its focus on young offenders and ex-offenders and based from a young offenders institution, we understand that FotO is the first volunteer Mentoring scheme of its kind to gain the APS. It's been a lot of hard work and a long time coming, but to earn this independent external accreditation at the first application is a very special accomplishment.
You can find out more about the APS and the MBF on their website at http://www.mandbf.org.uk/goodpractice/aps/
