Our suspicions have been confirmed. We're officially the Best Employer in the Third Sector.

That's according to Third Sector magazine, which chose us as winners of the award for Best Employer at the Third Sector Awards dinner last night.

The gala dinner at The Hurlingham Club was attended by nearly 1000 representatives from the voluntary sector. Awards were presented by Hugh Dennis.

The judges were said to be particularly impressed by the 'Forum Challenge' - a week on full pay that staff can use to do something that will enhance their personal development, help another organisation or promote Forum for the Future’s mission.

Examples of recent challenges include tree planting, being a trustee for a charity and writing an academic paper.

They also highlighted our policy of paying staff 20p for each mile they cycle for meetings, and commended our Chief Executive, Peter Madden, for hot-desking around our offices in London and Cheltenham.

Finally, feedback from staff collected through the staff survey proved to the judges that our approach really works:

“Forum is one of the friendliest environments I have worked in and people have time for a laugh.”

“Respect is given to everyones opinion - there always appears to be the chance to 'have your say'.”

“There is no doubt at all that everyone at the Forum is working together towards the shared aim of a more sustainable world.”

“In the last six months I have received more training than six years in my former job. I'm grateful to be part of an organisation that values its employees and recognises the value of investing in their skills.”

“We're not perfect, but still so much better than anywhere else I have worked.”

Forum for the Future was also nominated for Best Brand Development.