Kilmallie centre volunteers celebrate achieving prestigious quality award
THE COMMITTEE of Kilmallie Community Centre has been celebrating achieving a Keystone award.
Flora McKee, manager of Voluntary Action Lochaber (VAL), presented the committee with the award on Friday July 29.
Keystone is a quality award and management toolkit for people who manage community buildings and Kilmallie Community Centre is one of the first halls in the Highlands to achieve it.
To achieve the award, the committee built up a portfolio of documentation that they follow the correct policies across six key areas: governance, managing people, managing money, managing resources, working with users and legislation and regulation.
Mrs McKee said: ‘I’m delighted to present this award to Kilmallie Community Centre committee. It reflects the hard work and commitment of the volunteers who run this centre for the benefit of their community. They should be rightly proud of their achievements.’
James Smith, director of Kilmallie Community Centre, received the award on behalf of the centre. He said: ‘ We are very happy to receive this award. We are very grateful for the support from Voluntary Action Lochaber, in particular Margaret Boyd, for all her help.’
Committee treasurer Sarah Kennedy added: ‘After a lot of hard work and liaising with VAL, we are delighted to receive this Keystone award.’
She told The Oban Times this involved keeping accurate records of meetings, having clear aims, maintaing the building and managing staff and volunteers effectively. Mrs Kennedy added: ‘I’m pleased so many people showed up to see us receive the award.’
Margaret Boyd accompanied Mrs McKee at the celebration event. She said: ‘Congratulations to the committee. They have shown they manage the centre well for the benefit of the whole community.
The centre currently has 62 members but they are looking for more people to help out, particularly with the community garden which has become overgrown. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact the centre on 01397 712663 or any committee members.