Air Ambulance NI receives prestigious Volunteer accreditation status

Air Ambulance Northern Ireland is proud to have been awarded the prestigious Investing in Volunteers (IiV) accreditation, the UK quality standard for involving volunteers, in April 2021 for the first time.

Breige Mulholland, Head of Operations at Air Ambulance NI charity said, “Our volunteers are the backbone of the charity and the accreditation honours the contribution made by each of them who have shown such support, particularly following the challenges 2020 placed on volunteering across the charity sector as well as representing the hard work of our charity team.  We look forward to continuing to develop our Volunteering opportunities and network.”

The IiV accreditation is the UK quality standard for good practise in volunteer management. It acts as a seal of approval for an organisation’s ability to provide an outstanding volunteer experience by thoroughly assessing the quality of volunteer management and involvement, acknowledging areas where an organisation is performing well and identifying where there may be room for improvement.

Air Ambulance NI has 128 volunteers who lend their support across three volunteer roles: a casual volunteer; collection box co-ordinator and community ambassador.   Feedback from volunteers is an essential part of the IiV assessment process. In total, 26 volunteers were interviewed and surveyed for Air Ambulance NI’s accreditation, as well as 5 members of staff and one trustee.

Air Ambulance NI was assessed against a range of best practice standards and proved to excel in all aspects of working with its volunteers. Denise Hayward, Chief Executive Officer at Volunteer Now, said, “Volunteer Now is delighted to announce Air Ambulance NI‘s successful achievement of this Award, they have demonstrated a real commitment to volunteering, proven that their volunteer management policies and procedures meet nationally recognised standards. Investing in Volunteers is unique in that it is the only standard that focuses on volunteers.  It is based on four areas of volunteer management; planning for volunteer involvement, recruiting volunteers, selecting and matching volunteers and supporting and retaining volunteers.”

The charity Air Ambulance Northern Ireland, in partnership with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, provides the HEMS for Northern Ireland.  The service brings urgent medical assistance to anywhere in the province, operating seven days a week for 12 hours per day. It can get to anywhere in Northern Ireland in approximately twenty-five minutes.

If you would like to volunteer for Air Ambulance NI, please contact Air Ambulance NI by email at info@airambulanceni.org or call 028 9262 2677.