Islamic Relief receives royal recognition for its inspirational commitment to volunteer development

London, 2nd November – Islamic Relief was awarded The Princess Royal Training Award 2018, in recognition of its work with volunteers.

Abdulla Almamun, Islamic Relief’s National Volunteer Coordinator, received the award from HRH Princess Anne at a ceremony in St James’s Palace on Wednesday, 31st of October. The prestigious awards honour UK employers for their outstanding training and development programmes, which have directly resulted in measurable success.

Islamic Relief UK, in partnership with the Humanitarian Academy for Development (HAD), created a volunteer engagement strategy with a high level of input from the volunteers themselves. This included up-skilling volunteers and investing in them, in order to create a pool of loyal team coordinators and future leaders. The results have had a tremendous impact: been widespread: funds raised by trained volunteers during Ramadan 2018 were three times greater than the direct costs of the leadership programme.

Commenting on the awards, Islamic Relief National Volunteer Coordinator, Abdulla Almamun said:

“We are delighted to have received this recognition as volunteers are the lifeblood of this organisation, helping us to raise significant amounts of money. We have invested heavily in their skills’ development in order to enhance our recruitment and retention of volunteers. We are already looking to build on this success and expand the work to other volunteer teams worldwide.”

One of the volunteers, Shamim Abdulla from Bolton, believes the skills she learned and the confidence she developed on the training course contributed to her recent election as a local authority councillor. The mother of four, who initially became involved with Islamic Relief through its Cake4Syria campaign, has raised over £100,000 for various campaigns and has even climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds.

Chris Jones, Chief Executive of the City & Guilds Group, which delivers the awards, added:

“In an ever-changing world, it continues to be critical for Britain’s businesses to invest in training to boost their productivity, address skills gaps and further develop their teams. We are delighted that Islamic Relief is among a diverse group of organisations achieving the Princess Royal Training Award standard in 2018. I congratulate them, and all of the organisations who presented examples of their innovative, inspiring and impactful training. They are truly worthy recipients of this rigorously assessed royal award and it is fitting that their achievements have been rewarded.”

The Princess Royal Training Awards are now in their third year. Each of the applications were assessed against three Hallmarks of Excellence by the Princess Royal Training Awards Commission, which comprised of HRH The Princess Royal and seven leading figures in the business and training community.

ENDS

Pictures can be downloaded from here. For further information, please contact: Sultan Ahmed, Media Co-ordinator at Islamic Relief UK, on 020 7593 3217, or email [email protected]

Notes to Editors

About Islamic Relief
Islamic Relief is an international aid and development charity that aims to alleviate the suffering of the world’s poorest people in more than 30 countries, mainly in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, Islamic Relief promotes sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities – regardless of race, religion or gender. Islamic Relief has helped more than 117m people across the world since its foundation in 1984. Islamic Relief is one of the 14 UK charities that form the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee).

About the Princess Royal Training Awards
Now in its third year, the Princess Royal Training Awards honours employers in the UK who have created outstanding training and skills development programmes which have resulted in exceptional commercial benefits. The Princess Royal Training Awards recognise the achievement of a standard of excellence rather than selecting overall winners.

The awards are supported by the City & Guilds Group President, HRH The Princess Royal, who is an active advocate for skills development.

Applications were assessed against three Hallmarks of Excellence:
1. Training/learning and development is integral to business performance
2. The programme is designed and delivered efficiently and effectively
3. The programme has an impact on the success of the organisation and its people