Awards

North East Voluntary & Community Sector Awards 2011

Congratulations to Graeme Oram and Jodie Hind of Five Lamps, winners of the North East VCS Awards 2011.

Jodie Hind won Volunteer of the Year.

Jodie is a volunteer Mentor at Five Lamps with referral links with Police, Prisons and Probation services. Jodie has achieved qualifications in Counselling and completed training in Drugs and Alcohol awareness and safeguarding.

Jodie is a former prolific offender and chaotic drug and alcohol user spending 70% of his life between 15 and 31 in institutions and Prisons. He decided to change his life prior to his last release in May 2009, enrolling on learning courses and volunteering with Five Lamps.

Jodie regularly attends sessions with offenders, helping them to challenge their former behaviour. He will track them on release to continue to mentor them in maintaining drug and offending free lifestyles. Feedback includes "It made me think about life out there. If Jodie can do it, so can I". "It was good as it shows that the bad apple can change".

Jodie is an inspiration to those he mentors and to the rest of the team around him. It is humbling to see the change in those who engage with Jodie, coupled with "it's just me doing a job" approach.

Graeme Oram won Outstanding Leadership.

Graeme is described by his nominee as a 'world class leader' and lists a catalogue of successes at the helm of Five Lamps which underline his outstanding leadership. These include success in securing contracts to deliver public services, totaling over £8million in the last 15 months. Five Lamps is the fastest-growing Community Development Finance Institution in the UK, delivering 10,000 personal loans in 2010/11.

As Chief Executive he has doubled the number of staff in the last year. He has helped scope the feasibility of the 'Great North Loan Fund', now seeking to create a £10million loan fund to address financial exclusion in the North East and Cumbria and issue a prospectus for social investment later this year. Graeme recognises that debt blights the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in Stockton and is providing an effective alternative to doorstep lenders and loan sharks, along with employability support, youth services and enterprise, helping people to get out and stay out of debt.

- May 2011

Sunday Times Best Companies to Work in the Public and Charity Sector

Five Lamps are celebrating after being placed at number 13 in The Sunday Times Best Company to Work in the Public and Charity Sectors list 2011.

Five Lamps’ were ranked in the top 10 in the Best Companies employee survey for questions on wellbeing and also in the top 20 for Leadership and My Team.

Graeme Oram, Chief Executive said “Everybody at Five Lamps is absolutely thrilled at our recognition as a great place to work. We have for some time understood just how important it is to invest in the professional and social development of our staff. This result shows what we have always believed, that a positive and motivated team of committed and talented people are best placed to create possibilities and change the lives of the thousands of people each year who use our services”

Investors in People: Gold

Five Lamps have been successful in achieving the Investors in People’s Gold Standard.

The standard is awarded to organisations that demonstrate a commitment to the learning and development of their employees and achieve best practice in people management.   Less than 1% of all Investors in People organisations in the UK achieve the Investors in people Gold Standard, placing Five Lamps in a minority, alongside only 30 companies within the North East that have also achieved the standard.

This is a real achievement for Five Lamps and it means that we have achieved world-wide best practice. Five Lamps achieved the Gold Standard after being assessed in its engagement with employees, investment in and staff take-up of training, quality of appraisals and one-to-one sessions.

The gold standard award highlights the good practices that operate throughout the organisation and the excellent staff that we having working at Five Lamps.

Graeme Oram, Chief Executive of Five Lamps said “Five Lamps has always recognised our staff are our greatest asset and we have committed a significant investment towards their personal and professional development.The success of Five Lamps is predicated on high quality service delivery and providing great customer experiences. We are delighted to have secured the Investors in People gold standard as a positive endorsement of our aim to be a brilliant employer”.

- September 2010