Complaints

We want everyone who deals with Swimmers to be treated fairly and with respect. If we get something wrong, we want to know, so that we can put it right and learn from it. Making a complaint will never affect how we treat you, including any current or future grant application.

What this policy covers

Anyone can make a complaint, including grant applicants, beneficiaries, donors, partners, researchers and members of the public. A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about:

• how we have handled a grant application, including a request to review a grant decision;
• the conduct of a trustee, adviser or anyone acting for Swimmers;
• our fundraising;
• information we have published, including on social media; or
• how we have handled personal information.

If you are worried that someone is at risk of harm, please contact us straight away at info@swimmers.charity. Safeguarding concerns are acted on immediately under our Safeguarding Policy and are not delayed by this procedure. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 999.

Requests to see, correct or delete your personal information are handled under our privacy policy.

How to complain

• Email: info@swimmers.charity, with “Complaint” in the subject line.
• Post: to our registered office address, which is shown on the Charity Commission’s register of charities.

Please tell us what happened, when, who was involved, and what you would like us to do. If you would prefer to explain by phone or video call, or need help or an adjustment to make a complaint (for example, because of a disability or language), let us know and we will arrange it.

We aim to resolve complaints within six months of the events concerned. We may still look at older complaints if there is a good reason for the delay.

How we handle complaints

Stage 1: response

• We acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days.
• A trustee who was not involved in the matter looks into it.
• We send you a full response within 20 working days. If we need longer, we will tell you why and when to expect a reply.

Stage 2: review

• If you are not happy with our response, you can ask for a review within 30 days of receiving it.
• The review is carried out by the Chair, or by another trustee if the Chair was involved in the matter or in the Stage 1 response.
• We send you the outcome of the review within 20 working days. This is our final response.

Because Swimmers has a small board, it may not always be possible for the reviewer to be completely independent of everyone involved. Where that happens we will tell you, and we may ask an independent person to help review the complaint.

Complaints about a trustee

A complaint about a trustee is handled by a trustee who has no conflict of interest in the matter. If the complaint suggests that someone may be at risk of harm, it is handled under our Safeguarding Policy.

Reviewing a grant decision

Applicants can ask us to review a decision on their grant application. A review considers whether we followed our Grant-Making Policy or Research Funding Policy fairly and correctly. It will not normally change a decision based on the trustees’ judgement unless there was a mistake in the process, or important information was missing that the applicant could not have given us at the time. Where possible, a review is carried out by trustees who did not make the original decision.

If you are still not satisfied

• Fundraising: if your complaint is about our fundraising and you are not satisfied with our final response, you can contact the Fundraising Regulator.
• Personal information: you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
• Serious concerns about how the charity is run: you can raise a concern with the Charity Commission. The Commission does not resolve individual disputes, but it does look into serious concerns about a charity’s governance or the misuse of its funds.

Records, confidentiality and learning

We keep a record of each complaint, how it was handled and the outcome, for six years. Complaints are handled confidentially: information is only shared with the people who need it to deal with the complaint, unless the law requires otherwise or someone is at risk of harm. Our trustees review a summary of complaints at each board meeting, and use them to improve how we work.

Unacceptable behaviour

We understand that people who complain may be upset, and that infertility can be very distressing. However, we will not tolerate abusive, threatening or harassing behaviour towards anyone acting for Swimmers. If this happens, we may limit how someone can contact us, while still dealing with any genuine complaint.