CVS Falkirk and District, the third sector interface for the Falkirk Council area, was awarded "Committed to Excellence" recognition under the European Framework for Quality Management (EFQM) scheme by Quality Scotland in June 2010. We were the second Interface in Scotland to achieve the Award.

We were presented the award by Sir Andrew Cubie, chair of Quality Scotland, at the 2009-10 Scottish Business Excellence Awards held in Glasgow on Tuesday 22 June.

It was an interesting and rewarding experience being at the same event as large corporations and public sector agencies, receiving similar awards and recognition for the good work we undertake locally.

Gaining recognition is a reflection of the hard work and commitment of everybody involved with the organisation including staff, volunteers and Board members.

It took around 12 months to achieve Committed to Excellence and is a further, significant milestone in the organisation's recent growth and development. The key thing with Committed to Excellence is that it is not a destination - as an organisation we are on a journey of continuous improvement and will be working hard to ensure we strive for excellence in all that we do.

Bill Kelly, chair of CVS Falkirk and District, noted "our partners in the public sector know and understand EFQM, so it has been very useful in helping us to demonstrate that organisations in the voluntary sector have a similar commitment to excellence and are delivering excellent, high quality services for local people and communities".