Complaints Policy

At Health and Hope UK (HHUK) we always do our best to provide the highest possible quality of service to those individuals or organisations that we interact with in any way.

However, we acknowledge that there may be occasions when things go wrong, or you are dissatisfied with us and may wish to complain. When this does happen, we want to hear about it, deal with the situation as quickly as possible, and put measures in place to stop it happening again. We take complaints very seriously and we treat them as an opportunity to develop and improve.

Defining a fundraising complaint

A complaint may be generally defined as an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about actions taken or a lack of action.

The type of issues we will consider relating to fundraising where it has been alleged that Health & Hope (not an exclusive list):

  • Has made misleading or excessive requests for donations.
  • Has been disrespectful or treated a donor unfairly when seeking donations.
  • Has not been transparent or open about the relationship it has with a third party.
  • Has failed to respect the wishes of the donor, e.g. has not restricted a gift according to the instructions of the donor or continued to send communications where the donor has clearly asked for them to be stopped.
  • Has not dealt appropriately with a complaint a donor, volunteer or staff member has made about fundraising.

If you are concerned about the fundraising practices being employed by any HHUK staff member, volunteer or representative, you should raise these concerns with the Executive Director, or a member of the Trustee board, if the concern involves the Executive Director. Any concern will be dealt with confidentially and in line with the Code of Fundraising Practice and HHUK’s legal obligations under UK law.

Complaints should be made to the Executive Director who will acknowledge in writing, within 48 hours, the receipt of the complaint.  If the complaint is about the Executive Director, the complaint should be addressed to the Chair (marked ‘confidential’).

You can get in touch with us in the following ways:

Health and Hope UK,

27, Old Gloucester Street,

London,

WC1N 3AX

Please include your name, address and contact telephone number in your email or letter so that we can get back in touch with you easily.

What we will do when we receive a concern

Externally

We will respond to complaints in a timely way

  • We will consider and resolve any complaints as quickly and efficiently as possible. We aim to acknowledge receipt of a complaint within 48 hours and respond to the complaint with a decision within 20 days.
  • If it is not possible to meet these timescales, we will ensure the complainant is kept up to date and explain the reasons for the time taken.

We will investigate a complaint fairly and thoroughly

  • We will listen to the complainant to understand the complaint and the outcome they are seeking.
  • We will endeavour to use a person within Health & Hope who is independent of the case to review it. Where this is not possible, we will use someone outside of Health & Hope.
  • We will investigate the complaint fairly and thoroughly and liaise with all those concerned.

How we reach a decision

  • We will provide clear, evidence-based reasons for our decisions.
  • This means responding openly to all the substantive points raised by a complainant and explaining why Health & Hope considers those points are justified or not.
  • We will be respectful when acknowledging a complaint, whether it is justified or not.
  • We take responsibility for the actions of our staff, representatives and volunteers.
  • If we have been found to be in the wrong, we will acknowledge this, apologising and sharing all lessons learned from the complaint.

Internally

Learning from complaints

  • We will regard complaints as an opportunity to learn and grow.
  • We will keep a record of all complaints, the outcomes and decisions of relating to all complaints.
  • We will regularly review any complaints to identify any trends to see how we may address these.
  • We will report all complaints to the Board of Trustees, any trend of complaints and actions taken as a result of a review of the complaints.
  • We will ensure that any staff member who is the subject of a complaint is informed and given a fair opportunity to respond. We are committed to supporting both our staff and those raising concerns.

If you remain unhappy with the resolution of your complaint, you will have the right to put your case, in writing, to an appeal panel of two Trustee Board members.

How to report concerns to the Fundraising Regulator if it is not possible to consider or deal with them appropriately within Health & Hope.

HHUK is committed to the highest standards in fundraising practice. If your complaint is to do with fundraising and you feel that it has been unresolved by us, then the Fundraising Regulator can investigate your complaint. You must contact them within two months of receiving your response from us. Contact can be made via the online complaints form, or via telephone: 0300 999 3407.

If you are concerned about the way in which your personal data has been processed by HHUK, please review our Privacy Policy, which includes details of how you can raise a complaint with HHUK. You can also contact the Information Commissioners’ Office and raise a complaint with them directly: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

Alternatively, if your complaint is related to another area of our work and you do not feel completely satisfied by our response then you can contact The Charity Commission at the address below.

The Charity Commission
PO Box 211
Bootle
L20 7YX

0300 066 9197

www.charity-commission.gov.uk

How the person raising a concern will be protected from victimisation and harassment

Any person wishing to raise a complaint will be protected according to the Equality Act (2010) which protects people against discrimination at work. If you have any questions about discrimination, you can contact the:

The Executive Director (or Chair) will keep the Trustee Board informed of the number and nature of complaints, and the outcomes.  S/he will report to the Board on this at least annually.

The person investigating any complaint should use this checklist when investigating a complaint as part of the Health and Hope UK complaints policy.

Have you discussed the investigation procedure and timescale with the complainant?

YES/NO

Have you conducted an interview to establish background to and detail of the complaint?

YES/NO

Have you written a statement about the complaint which you have dated and signed?

YES/NO

Has the complainant countersigned as correct the statement you have taken?

YES/NO

Have you given a copy of the complaint to those associated with its contents?

YES/NO

Have you asked, in writing, for a statement from those associated with the complaint within an agreed period of time?

YES/NO

 

Have you received the statements within the agreed time period?

YES/NO

Have you advised those being interviewed that they can have a friend with them?

YES/NO

Have you interviewed all those associated with the complaint?

YES/NO

Have you written up, signed, and dated your notes from each of these interviews?

YES/NO

Have you reviewed all the evidence placed before you?

YES/NO

Have you assessed whether or not you feel there are grounds for complaint?

YES/NO

If so, have you considered all the options for action that could/should be taken as a result?

YES/NO

Are you clear in your own mind what will be the content of the discussion with the Chair about this investigation and its findings?

YES/NO

Have you discussed fully with the Chair the findings of your investigation and your recommendations for action?

YES/NO

Have you put these formally in writing to the Chair, together with the statements and notes taken during the course of the investigation?

YES/NO