YMCA Liverpool and Sefton has been named as one of the top 10 best charities to work for in the UK

YMCA Liverpool & Sefton has secured sixth place in the Best Companies ‘Charity’s 30 Best Organisations to Work For’ national list for 2021.

The accolade was awarded based on its overall Best Companies Index Score of 748.7 – a ranking system representing organisations that truly excel, granted to those with ‘world class’ levels of workplace engagement.

The charity, which jumped from seventh in the overall Not-For-Profit category in 2020, received a three-star accreditation with Best Companies for the second consecutive year, the highest award for recognising staff engagement. This year, it was also placed 35th in the ‘Best North West Companies to Work For’ list and 41^st in the ‘Best Mid-Sized Companies to Work For’ UK-wide list.

Chief Executive of YMCA Liverpool & Sefton Ellie McNeil said:

“As an organisation we are absolutely committed to our team to ensure that they are engaged with us and our mission and are skilled and equipped to deliver the best quality of life-changing services possible. We are always reviewing our training and learning provisions and we have extensive support available to our team as well as our service users which has enabled us to create a workplace culture that puts inclusivity, empathy and dedication at its heart.

“With all of that in mind, and knowing how much work goes into building and maintaining our team behind the scenes, we are delighted with our score in this year’s Best Companies Index. There are some incredible and highly respected charity organisations on the list and to be ranked sixth is so rewarding. Our entire team are encouraged and inspired by the news and it will only drive us to achieve more in the next 12 months which coincides with our 175^th business anniversary.”

Best Companies use a multi-step model to determine its annual scores and accreditations as part of a rigorous and thorough process that includes a staff-wide survey and analysis.

Ellie added: “With 175 years of experience under our belt, we’ve been able to support thousands of people within the Merseyside region with issues such as homelessness, addiction and recovery, domestic abuse, childcare provisions and more. All of the work that we do is only made possible by the incredible team around us. It’s their commitment to learning and their core values as individuals that enables us to make such a difference to people’s lives along with their families lives.

“It has been wonderful to receive such positive news, particularly after a difficult year for so many. The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted our line of work beyond comprehension as more and more people have found themselves in challenging situations as a result of financial loss or mental health struggles for example. For us, this means that we have had one of our busiest and most demanding periods in our history, but our staff have risen to the task and it’s great to know that they have felt supported by our organisation every step of the way.”