St Helens Chamber re-accredited to the matrix Standard

St Helens Chamber has been re-accredited to the matrix Standard, demonstrating the high-quality training, advice and career guidance it provides to people across the Liverpool City Region.

The St Helens Chamber guidance services team provide careers information, advice and guidance to clients, alongside delivering a varied calendar of free short courses designed to add valuable skills to the CV’s of its clients.

Tracy Mawson, chief executive at St Helens Chamber, said: “We are so proud to have continued to meet the matrix accreditation; it is a testament to the hard work of the whole guidance services team here at the Chamber.

“Our qualified careers advisers have worked tirelessly, particularly throughout the pandemic, to adapt and develop our support, and it is fantastic to see this hard work recognised in this way.”

The matrix Standard is the international quality standard for organisations that deliver information, advice and/or guidance (IAG), either as their sole purpose or as part of their service offering.

Roger Chapman, head of the matrix Service for The Growth Company said: “This is a fantastic achievement for St Helens Chamber and I would like to congratulate the team on their success. We believe that at the heart of high-quality advice and support services are strong leadership, excellent service and a focus on continuous improvement, all underpinned by effective use of the resources available. 

“The matrix Standard is designed to benchmark organisations against best practice in these areas. With their accreditation success, St Helens Chamber is working to provide the best possible support to their clients.”

During the pandemic, the guidance services team at St Helens Chamber endeavoured to continue delivering high quality training and advice remotely so that clients were still able to develop their skills throughout the lockdowns – something which was recognised in the matrix accreditation report which read: “During the pandemic, delivery was converted to remote format, and all staff worked passionately and athletically to ensure the changes went ahead as rapidly and smoothly as possible, and that clients continued to be engaged and supported, including through the provision of IT equipment for those in need, support in getting on-line, and the provision of additional check-in calls to support their on-going well-being and engagement.”

Alongside this, St Helens Chamber received great feedback from clients who they have supported over the past year, with clients sharing the ways in which the Chamber’s support had helped them improve their skills. 

Clients said: “I wouldn’t be where I am today without the Chamber”; “Gave me a purpose in life, direction”; “Helped me focus on my future, and how I would get there”; “Boosted my confidence and self-esteem – and I got a job”.

St Helens Chamber continues to support clients through its team of qualified careers advisers with support available to anyone aged 19+ living in the Liverpool City Region – no matter what career level they are at.

Tracy added: “Seeing both the client and matrix assessor feedback makes me extremely proud of the work we do at the Chamber, and it is fantastic that this work has been recognised with this prestigious accreditation. “We will continue to develop our careers provision and aim to help even more people gain skills and get into work in the coming months.”