Waverley Care are proud to announce that we’re partnering up with Criterion Tec Limited, as part of the company’s 2019/2020 Corporate Social Responsibility. This is Criterion’s first charity partnership and, the first in several years for us at Waverley Care. We are particularly delighted to announce this partnership during our 30^th anniversary year.

Criterion was formed for the UK’s Financial Service’s industry in July 2017, as an independent, not-for-profit industry body for Standards and Governance. It was originally part of Origo Services Ltd and has been publishing standards for almost 25 years.

To launch the partnership, Matt Middler (Corporate & Individual Relationships Manager) from our fundraising team joined Criterion at their Edinburgh office to let them know about everything from how HIV and AIDS were communicated during the 1980s epidemic, to challenging the many misconceptions and stigma still associated with the virus in today’s society. Matt also used this opportunity to talk about our work at Waverley Care more broadly – with a focus on educating, informing and encouraging everyone to get tested, helping reduce new HIV and hepatitis C infections.

Due to continuing pressure on statutory funding, we alongside many others in the charity sector are increasingly turning to the public to raise vital funds needed to provide support to those in need across Scotland, while also providing prevention services and challenging stigma. This means our partnership with Criterion will have a significant impact on our work making sure people living with HIV and hepatitis C can access the testing, treatment and support they need.

Criterion will also support our work by helping maintain our residential unit grounds at Milestone, as well as volunteering at charity events, supporting bucket collections and taking part in the Edinburgh Kiltwalk.

A big thank you to all the staff at Criterion from all of us at Waverley Care, whose support will help us continue to make a positive difference across Scotland.

2019 will see Criterion continue to drive collaboration across the industry with the energies and focus prioritised across a number of industry-wide activities, including pension’s dashboard, distributed ledger technologies and improved pensions transfer and re-registrations. To find out more about Criterion, check out their website here: https://www.criterion.org.uk/about-criterion/