East down Rural Community Network was delighted to recently achieve ISO9001 certification for its services around supporting rural communities.

David Acheson, Quality Management Consultant, told us 'RCN wished to further improve its already high quality of service to rural communities throughout Northern Ireland and took on board a very challenging and demanding task to achieve ISO 9001 - the world wide standard for quality management. The standard sets a demanding set of requirements which an organisation must meet to demonstrate it is continually improving its processes and customer satisfaction. David continued 'The success of the project lay in the excellent commitment from the Board of Directors and especially from Nicholas McCrickard, the Network manager, Edith McCartan, senior administrator and their whole staff team. Although the pace was hectic at times, this was one of the most satisfying assignments I have undertaken in twenty five years as a quality management consultant.'

Nicholas, commenting on the achievement said 'This certification demonstrates EDRCN's commitment to improving standards across all aspects of its work, not only in organisational governance but also in our community development practice.' Nicholas continued 'Our next task is to align the quality management system with the National Occupational Standards for community development to ensure an integrated approach across the rural infrastructure.'

He also acknowledged the investment made by the Department for Social Development and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to facilitate the work that was necessary to achieve this certification.