EQIS - How it Works
Things to Think About
To undertake EQIS organisations need to already have the required policies in place. The framework can be used as a tool to support the initial set-up and development of an organisation, however, EQIS cannot be awarded if the requisite policies and procedures aren't in place.
Organisations applying will be asked to provide documented and verbal proof of examples of how they meet the 7 stages.
How does it work?
1) Complete Pre-qis. This eligibility check covers current governance, accreditation and policies. You must complete this section to be able to progress to the rest of the stages.
2) Working through it in your prefered order, you will need to answer the questions and provide what evidence you feel best illustrates your response. For example, when talking about volunteer recruitment you could refer to your application form or volunteer handbook.
Once you have completed all the sections to your satisfaction, this is submitted to WVA.
3) An assessor from WVA will discuss with you the evidence you have collated. However, this is not solely a paper-based exercise, it will involve speaking to:
- Committee/board members
- Staff (if applicable)
- Volunteers,
- Beneficiaries
- Partners / other providers (if required)
These discussions will take place in a group format or one to one as appropriate to the organisation.
4) The assessor will then submit the information to a EQIS panel for approval.
Dependant on the size of the organisation, it should take anything from four to twelve weeks to complete the process before submission to the panel. The panel may request additional information or for some development before awarding EQIS.