The first stage in becoming a Centre of Excellence is to undertake the LLST scheme and that has three core areas:

• How the organisation is being run (focusing on management and governance, business planning and strategy, financial management, funding (fundraising and earned income), staffing, quality and compliance
• A brief file review considering process and compliance
• A review of expenditure, and whether money could be saved / effectiveness increased

A report is then produced, highlighting areas where support would be beneficial. LLST then meet with the organisation to try and see how those can be addressed. This may result in some work with other organisations in the scheme as well as direct assistance. There is also the possibility of initial core funding at this stage.