22nd November, 2018

Extern, Ireland’s leading social justice charity, has celebrated winning its third national award for excellence, after scooping a top prize for its governance.

Extern Ireland took the prize for Best Governance Improvement Initiative at the national Good Governance Awards, following a glittering ceremony in Dublin. The awards recognise and encourage adherence to good governance practice by non-profit organisations in Ireland.

This year saw the introduction of the new Best Governance Improvement Initiative award type to recognise initiatives that have been taken to improve the quality of a non-profit’s governance.

The award is further good news for the charity after its Chairman, Derek McCabe, took the Trustee of the Year Award at last year’s event, while last November the charity also won the Leadership and Good Governance Award at a ceremony in Belfast, organised by the VSB Foundation.

Collecting the award on behalf of Extern, Mr McCabe said he was proud of the continuing success of Extern, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.

“Awards like these show just how important good governance is to an organisation like Extern, which works across a wide geographical area and with a diverse demographic of people who often have complex needs,” he said. “This award is a just recognition of the hard work that is carried out at a high level, both by my fellow Board Members and Extern’s staff, to ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality work to those who need it the most.”

Extern CEO Charlie Mack paid tribute to the “dedication, energy and effort” which goes into providing effective oversight to Extern’s work.

“We are very fortunate to have Board Members who consistently provide what is needed to keep Extern running as smoothly as possible,” he said. “Good governance is about challenging an organisation to always strive to do better, and that is why Extern has rightly cemented its place as Ireland’s leading social justice charity. We look forward to building upon this latest award and enjoying continued success as an organisation.”

Last year Extern supported over 18,000 people across the island of Ireland. The charity works with people from the Traveller community and people who are homeless, who are living with addiction, who are refugees, who have an offending background, and with children, young people, and families who are experiencing challenges in their lives.

Further information on the work of Extern can be found online at www.extern.org, or if you would like to find out more about how you can volunteer with Extern or support their work, then please email [email protected]