The Carmichael Centre PQASSO (Practical Quality Assurance for Small and medium-sized Organisations) Working Group is delighted to announce that it has completed PQASSO Level 1. PQASSO is a straightforward, user-friendly self-assessment tool which is built on 12 Quality Areas. These cover the main things we need to run our organisation well and to assess the results of our work. Level 1 sets the minimum legal standards any organisation should meet and helps us to lay the foundations for effective planning and targeting of activities to meet organisational objectives.

Tools such as PQASSO are becoming extremely important in the Community & Voluntary Sector in Ireland. They provide a means for C&V groups to analyse their strengths and weaknesses and to set about continuously improving quality of service. This is particularly important in the context of the Charities Act 2009, and the increasing focus by funders on quality and outcomes.

If you require any further information on PQASSO, please contact Derek O'Reilly at derekoreilly@carmichaelcentre.ie . We will run a training day on PQASSO in our Autumn Programme. Details will be posted on the Carmichael Centre website www.carmichaelcentre.ie  in July.