Staffordshire Partnership is the registered assessment centre for the BITC (Business in the Community) Awards in Staffordshire. Volunteering Plus awards offer a way of formally capturing and recognising the work and development undertaken by individuals in supporting youngsters in an educational environment.

The programmes are supported by trained facilitators who will induct, support and assess the work of people undertaking the award. At the end of the programme participants will emerge with a recognised City and Guild Certificate.

There are 8 awards in total (see chart below), 4 at the recognition level and 4 at the accreditation level each with a different focus. Which one is undertaken by a candidate is dependant upon the project undertaken and the candidate themselves. Some candidates choose to do several awards to reflect their own development and their involvement with the school or community area.

The Recognition awards take the form of a log: recording your planning for your involvement in the project; what you actually did, and, a review of what you and the people that you worked with have learnt, as well as recognising the skills you have used. Dependant upon the approach taken can be broadly equivalent to an NVQ level 1-3.

The Accreditation awards are NVQ style. There is a requirement here for you to provide a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate that you have undertaken the specified best practice criteria in planning, doing and reviewing your project.

Dependant upon the approach taken can be broadly equivalent to an NVQ level 4 - 5 and might be worth around 20 CAT points.

The length of each the programme is very much dependant upon the project that you are involved in and how much time you are able to devote to completing you award.

If you are interested in finding out more information on the awards or in discussing how you might take this forward then please contact the BITC Co-ordinator at

Staffordshire Partnership - Tina Rumble 01889 571999.