The Children’s Centre has made it into The Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies To Work For lists for the third year in succession. The Island’s leading charity for families and children has been included in this year’s list in the ‘Top 100 Best Not For Profit Organisations To Work For’ category which will be published in this weekend’s edition of the newspaper.

It is 34th in the list and is in the Top 100 with some of the UK’s leading charities. A total of 254 organisations applied for inclusion in the Top 100 Best Not For Profit Organisations To Work For category. In 2011 The Children’s Centre was sixth in The Sunday Times 100 Best Places To Work In The Public/Third Sector Sectors list, and in 2010 was 83rd in the newspaper’s list of the Top 100 Best Small Companies To Work For. The Sunday Times Top 100 lists are based on an employee survey in which staff are allowed to give open, honest and confidential assessments of their place of work and its management. In addition to the Top 100 award, The Children’s Centre has also been given an ‘Outstanding’ two star award in the Best Companies rating system. Best Companies Ltd is the organisation behind The Sunday Times Best Companies To Work For lists and its star status awards are based on the same employee survey. This is the third year in a row that the charity has been awarded two star status.

John Knight, Chief Executive of The Children’s Centre, said:

“To have achieved a place in The Sunday Times Top 100 lists for a third successive year is a remarkable achievement. We are delighted that our team members continue to recognise The Children’s Centre as a ‘Best Place to Work’.”

The Sunday Times Top 100 award ceremony was held at Battersea Evolution Centre, London, on February 22. Representing the charity at the awards were Michelle O’Malley, Fundraising Manager at The Children’s Centre, and Jonathan Hall, a trustee of The Children’s Centre and General Manager of Friends Provident International Limited.

The Children’s Centre develops, manages, and pioneers a variety of community initiatives and services aimed at enabling children, young people and families to realise their full potential. It is an independent Manx charity – undertaking its own projects and working with others – to put children, young people, and families first.

The Children’s Centre works directly with over 1,000 children, young people and families each week. It runs vital services across the Island including play groups, nursery care and after school clubs. The charity can trace its history back to 1868 when founder Henry Bloom Noble recognised that there were a large number of destitute children living in Douglas. These children lacked housing, food, clothing and education, and it was realised that there was an urgent need to provide for their needs. While the location of the charity has changed on many occasions, it remained a children’s home for over a century. In the 1980s The Isle of Man Children’s Centre was created and provided a wide range of services for children, families and young people. The charity became The Children’s Centre in 2009.

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