Hipp!!Bones Charity (the “Charity”) is committed to resolving complaints in an appropriate, fair and timely way. We welcome feedback as this helps us to improve the way we work.
Purpose: The purpose of this policy is to set out the Charity’s approach to receiving and dealing with complaints, how you can make a complaint, what you can expect from the Charity when you do so and how you can escalate a complaint if you are unhappy with the outcome.
Our Approach:
We are sorry if you’re unhappy with anything to do with our Charity. Whilst we are committed to operating to the highest standards, we recognise that there may be times when you feel that we do not achieve the level of service, or that the behaviours of our staff, trustees or those acting on our behalf are not to the standard that you expect. If you do have a complaint, please let us know so that we can try and help. You should contact the trustees directly if you wish to make a complaint about the charity, and the Hipp!!Bones Youth Club that it operates.
- We take all complaints seriously and we will be in touch as soon as we can once you’ve told us your concern. This policy reflects our commitment to ensuring that we have effective and transparent procedures in place for fair and efficient handling of complaints.
- Please be assured that making a complaint will not affect your chances of partnering with the Charity in the future or the level of service you receive from us. We will keep all complaints confidential to the extent possible, subject to the need to disclose information necessarily as part of any investigation, as required by statutory authorities such as the Charity Commission and/or as a result of legal or regulatory obligations placed on us. If you make a complaint, we will treat you with respect and we expect you to treat our staff in the same way.
What is a complaint
Complaints can range from an expression of dissatisfaction to an allegation concerning the Charity.
Complaints relating to handling of personal data should be made in accordance with the Charity’s Data Privacy Notice and raised with a Charity Trustee.
If you have a concern or issue that you do not consider amounts to a complaint, as defined above, we still want to hear from you. Please discuss the matter informally with any member of the Charity’s staff as soon as possible, so that this can be addressed at an early stage, or alternatively, you can share your views with us via our “contact us” form on our website: https://www.hippbones.org.uk
This policy is not for use in relation to complaints from the Charity’s staff (such as cases of bullying or harassment), which are dealt with by the Disciplinary & Grievance Policy and the Whistleblowing Policy.
In addition to reporting any complaints to the Charity:
- if your complaint relates to actual or suspected criminal activity or raises a serious safeguarding concern which poses a threat to a person’s life or wellbeing, please report this to the police; or
- if it relates to actual or suspected fraudulent activity, this can be reported to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud or call 0300 123 2040.
How to get in touch
If you would like to make a complaint, the best way to do this is by email. You can contact us at: j.green.hippbones@gmail.com
Alternatively, you can phone: 07983 674719, your message will be passed onto the appropriate person to deal with it.
What to cover
In order to help us to effectively investigate your complaint, please set out the facts in as much detail and as clearly as possible. In particular, please tell us:
a. what happened;
b. when it happened;
c. who you dealt with;
d. why you consider this to be a complaint; and
e. what you would like us to do to address your complaint.
We will only disclose information internally or to our external advisors to the extent necessary to investigate your complaint effectively.
What we will do
We take complaints seriously and all complaints will be investigated. We will take action in response to any failures identified by the complaint or investigation, if applicable.
We aim to respond to your complaint within 10 Business Days of receiving it:
- If a complaint requires investigation, we will acknowledge receipt of your complaint and set out who will be dealing it and their contact details (the “Complaint Lead”).
- The Complaint Lead will investigate your complaint competently, diligently and as impartially as possible. They may need to speak to you further to gather such additional information as necessary in order to assess your complaint. They will consider the subject matter of the complaint, whether they consider the complaint should be upheld and, if so, what remedial action or redress the Charity may consider appropriate.
- The Complaint Lead will usually advise you of their findings and the Charity’s conclusion within 30 days of the acknowledgement of receipt of your complaint.
- If we are unable to give a definitive response within that timeframe, for example because an investigation has not been fully completed, we will send a progress report with an indication of when a full reply will be given.
- If you are not happy with our response, please let us know as soon as possible. Your complaint will be escalated to the Charity’s Chair, who will carry out a review and let you know the outcome within 30 days. The decision taken at this stage is final.
- If you remain dissatisfied with our response, please refer to the Charity Commission’s guidance publication ‘CC47 Complaints About Charities’ to see if they will investigate your complaint further (www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc47.asp) or contact them at www.charitycommission.gov.uk or in writing at to Charity Commission, PO Box 1227, Liverpool, L69 3UG