The Charity Commission has endorsed the Standard of good practice of the charity Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) as part of the Commission's Quality Standards Endorsement Programme.

ACRE is the national umbrella body for the Rural Community Action Network, which comprises the separately registered charities, Rural Community Councils (RCCs).

The Good Practice Quality Standard defines good practice for the Network and provides challenging assessments of how well RCCs are run.

The Commission has worked closely with ACRE and shared its experience to help develop the Standard, which was formally endorsed in its third edition.

The Commission's endorsement process assesses whether the charity's quality standards are consistent with the Commission's guidance Hallmarks of an Effective Charity and whether the accreditation process meets the requirements of the Commission's Terms of Endorsement.

Andrew Hind, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: "I am very pleased that the Commission is able to endorse the ACRE Good Practice Quality Standard. The Standard is a good example of how charities have embraced the importance of best practice in all aspects of their work.

"We are committed to working with the sector to make charities more effective and by sharing our expertise with standard-setting charities such as ACRE we are able to support the good practice of small and medium-sized charities working at regional levels."

Sylvia Brown, chief executive of ACRE said: 'I am delighted that the ACRE Standard has been formally endorsed by the Charity Commission. ACRE's work over the past decade on implementing a high quality standards system for Rural Community Action Network members is underpinned by a robust and continuing Peer Review process.

"The ACRE standards have been adopted throughout the network and all RCAN members can demonstrate significant improvements both in managing their organisations and in the delivery of services to the rural communities they serve.

"Endorsement by the Charity Commission is an acknowledgement that the current ACRE standards provide a rigorous and comprehensive test of our members' commitment to legal compliance, quality and improvement, in line with the regulator's Hallmarks of an Effective Charity.'

The ACRE Good Practice Quality Standard joins a number of similar schemes established by and for the sector which have been supported by the Commission.

For more information see the Charity Commission Partnership Strategy at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/spr/partner.asp

Share Story: