Our Complaints Policy

 

Why do we have this policy?

If we get things wrong, we want to know about it. We want our complaints process to help us to resolve complaints as quickly and effectively as we can. We treat all concerns seriously and hope to learn from them, so that we continue to improve the way we build relationships, carry out our work, and award our grants.

 

What will Barnwood Trust treat as a complaint?

Barnwood Trust will consider an expression of dissatisfaction by a person or persons as a complaint. Where we are aware that someone is dissatisfied with Barnwood, we will apply this policy to how we consider the complaint and respond. This is regardless of whether the complainant has designated their correspondence as a complaint or not.

 

How will Barnwood consider complaints?

We are committed to the following:

  • Considering each part of your complaint.
  • Conducting further investigations into your complaint where appropriate.
  • Providing a response to all complaints.
  • Logging all complaints so that we are able to learn from them and analyse trends and themes to help us improve what we do.
  • We treat all complaints that we receive as an opportunity to improve. If we have made mistakes, we are committed to recognising them so that we can apologise for them, prevent them happening again and make things better in the future.
  • All complaints will be treated with an appropriate level of confidentiality. Information will be shared with employees and volunteers who need to assist in understanding what has happened, and to enable The Trust to respond appropriately.
  • It may not always be appropriate for us to share all of our findings with you when we respond. This may be for data protection or confidentiality reasons.
  • We will be careful to keep you informed about how we will handle your complaint, especially if an immediate resolution cannot be found. We will also try to give you an estimated timescale in which we hope to do this.

 

How do you make a complaint?

  1. We would like you to make your complaint in a way that you are comfortable with. This could be by making a phone call, by speaking to somebody in person, or by sending us something in writing in a letter or in an email.
  2. You may ask someone to help you make your complaint. If so, please ask them to tell us that they are making a complaint on your behalf.
  3. We expect that most complaints can be resolved informally, through feedback being given directly to a Barnwood Team member. Barnwood Trust employees are able to respond to general concerns and complaints that may arise within their areas of work. So in the first instance, and if possible, please make your complaint to the person or department that your complaint concerns.
  4. In the event that:
  • You don’t feel happy with the outcome following this first response to your complaint, or
  • You feel uncomfortable or that it’s inappropriate to raise your concerns with your main contact at the Trust, or
  • You have concerns regarding a Trust employee

we ask that you put your concerns in writing to our Chief Operating Officer Nicola Mosley. Nicola can be reached at:

Email: Nicola.mosley@barnwoodtrust.org

Post: Barnwood Trust, Overton House, Overton Road, Cheltenham, GL50 3BN

Phone: 01242 539935

Nicola will review the nature of your complaint. If necessary, she may ask the most appropriate Manager to look into further for you. In Nicola’s absence a Director will respond to you.

If you wish to complain about our Chief Operating Officer, or a decision they have made in response to your complaint, please direct your complaint to the CEO:

Email: sally.byng@barnwoodtrust.org

Post: Barnwood Trust, Overton House, Overton Road, Cheltenham, GL50 3BN

If you wish to complain about our CEO, please direct your complaint to our Chair of Trustees:

Email: ann.santry@barnwoodtrust.org

Post: Barnwood Trust, Overton House, Overton Road, Cheltenham, GL50 3BN

Complaints that we may not be able to respond to:

  • When someone is unreasonably or repetitively submitting complaints that Barnwood Trust has already responded to. We will confirm the review that has already taken place without repeating the process.
  • When a complaint is abusive, prejudiced or offensive in any way
  • When we consider the objective of a complaint to be harassing a Barnwood Trust employee or volunteer
  • Barnwood Trust cannot respond to anonymous complaints. We will try to review the complaint and use that information to improve in any way that we can.

 

Making a complaint to an external regulator

If your complaint is about Barnwood Trust and the work we carry out as a Charity, or you do not feel completely satisfied by our responses through the above processes then you can contact the Charity Commission:

The Charity Commission, PO Box 1227 Liverpool L69 3UG

0845 3000 218

www.charity-commision.gov.uk