Homelessness charity scoops double win at Third Sector Awards » Housing » 24dash.com

Homelessness charity Broadway celebrated a double victory at the Third Sector Awards ceremony on Tuesday, one of only two charities to pick up two awards on the night.

The London-based charity won Best Employer for its comprehensive approach to people management.

Helen Giles, MBE, human resources director said: "Broadway is committed to recruiting and retaining the best staff. Our staff and managers work with and seek to improve the lives of some of the most socially excluded people in society, people who are homeless.

"Winning the Best Employer Award recognises the work that we do to enable our staff to achieve their best; in turn ensuring high performance and quality for the people who are accessing our services."

Broadway also won Best Charity Partnership of the Year for its initiative with the London Housing Foundation, to provide excellent and affordable HR support to smaller charitable organisations.

'Beyond a Helpline' was launched to meet the needs of smaller voluntary agencies, to provide effective support to achieve high standards in people management. The final evaluation report by Triangle revealed a long list of 'staggering' outcomes for the participating agencies. In many cases the service has helped to sustain their future viability.

One representative from a participating agency said: "The change has been vast. However the changes that stick out include a change to a really professional culture. Things are not chaotically done any more - there are clear processes, structures which pervade everything. People are proud of the professionalism, it filters into everything."

Howard Sinclair, Broadway chief executive, said: "Staff and managers in the third sector are responsible for working with and seeking to improve the lives of the most vulnerable people in our society. It is therefore crucially important that staff and agencies are supported to achieve their best.

"This award recognises the huge impact that excellent people management practice can have. The London Housing Foundation has worked with us to develop and test this truly ground-breaking and innovative approach.

"We would like to thank the LHF and all the participating agencies for making this project such a success."

On the basis of the scheme, Broadway has been able to develop a socially responsible HR consultancy service, Real People which is enabling many other charities to benefit from its model of HR support.