Exceptional volunteer services at Popham Kidney Support recognised with Investing in Volunteers accreditation

Popham Kidney Support, a charity based in Swansea, has earned the prestigious Investing in Volunteers accreditation as it prepares to expand its peer support service throughout Wales.

Investing in Volunteers is the UK quality standard for all organisations involving volunteers and aims to improve the quality of the volunteering experience and demonstrates that organisations value the enormous contribution made by their volunteers.

Investing in Volunteers is delivered by the national volunteering infrastructure bodies, and together it enables organisations across the UK to achieve the award.

Popham Kidney Support was assessed against six quality areas and proved to excel in all aspects of working with its volunteers. The accreditation is unique in that it is the only standard that focuses on six distinct quality areas: vision for volunteering, planning for volunteers, volunteer inclusion, recruiting and welcoming volunteers, supporting volunteers, and valuing and developing volunteers.

Popham Kidney Support, in its tenth year of operation, hopes that this accreditation can aid in its expansion plans, as the charity aims to expand its team of Popham Peer Mentors to 123 over the next five years, in addition to recruiting 30 new Popham Youth Peer Mentors across Wales. The initial step of this strategy has already begun with a current team of 35 Popham Peer Mentors and four Popham Youth Peers in South East and West Wales and by developing a footprint in North Wales.

Its plans for growth have been accelerated by £489,477 of grant funding from The National Lottery over the next five years. The five-year grant from People & Places was awarded to develop the charity’s Peer Support Services and was awarded based on the charity providing a five-year plan for growth, focusing on its expansion across the whole of Wales.

Popham Kidney Support was originally founded as The Paul Popham Fund, Renal Support Wales in March 2013, five months after the passing of Paul Popham – father of CEO, Joanne Popham – following a courageous battle with kidney cancer. Ten years on, and the charity has grown exponentially, supporting over 3,000 people during 2022 alone. The charity provides a wide variety of support services including financial, informational and emotional support to kidney patients and their families throughout Wales.

Joanne Popham, Popham Kidney Support CEO, said:

“Achieving the Investing in People accreditation is an incredibly proud moment for us. Our volunteers stand at the forefront of what we do and we cannot thank them enough for their support. With our ambitious plans for the coming years, we hope this accreditation will help us achieve our goals and expand our network further.”

The Chair of UKVF (the Awarding Body) said:

“UKVF is delighted to announce Popham Kidney Support‘s successful achievement of this Award. They have demonstrated a real commitment to volunteering, proving that their volunteer management policies and procedures meet nationally recognised standards.”