The Interlink Foundation has been named as the first UK charity to be awarded Level 3 PQASSO Quality Mark by Charities Evaluation Services (CES). Interlink is the membership organisation for Orthodox Jewish charities in the UK and supports 200 charity members.

The foundation offers charity members advice and training, and supports them to create partnerships with local government. It also pioneers novel approaches including incubation of new projects to tackle community problems such as unemployment, and leads consortia of its members to win public sector contracts.

Receiving the award, Chaya Spitz, chief executive of the Interlink Foundation, said: “It is a great honour for Interlink to be the first charity to be awarded the PQASSO Quality Mark at Level 3. Orthodox Jewish charities can feel proud of this achievement, as it endorses the outstanding work that we are doing together to reach the people that really need our support.”

To achieve Level 3, the foundation had to provide robust evidence of effectiveness and undergo a rigorous external assessment. The award is endorsed by the Charity Commission as evidence of an organisation having met the hallmarks of an effective charity.

Mirella Andrew, from the Charities Evaluation Service, said: “We congratulate the Interlink Foundation for their achievement. The PQASSO Quality Mark at Level 3 is a challenging process, it is designed to demonstrate a charity’s quality to funders, partners, local government and beneficiaries. The foundation is the first charity to be awarded at Level 3.”