Complaints Procedure

We know there may be times when we do not meet our own high standards. 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.

How to make a complaint

We take complaints very seriously and treat them as an opportunity to develop. This is why we're always very grateful to hear from people willing to take the time to help us improve.

We always thank people who contact us about their problems, concerns or worries.

You can decide exactly how you would like to get in touch with us:

You can call us on 0800 8 148 148. One of our friendly Supporter Care Advisers will be ready and willing to help. Our phone lines are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. Outside of these hours you can always leave us a message and a contact number and someone will return your call before midday the next working day.
You can email us at supportercare@savethechildren.org.uk.
Or you can write to us at:

Save the Children
Supporter Care Team
1 St John's Lane
London
EC1M 4AR

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.

How long will it take?

We endeavour to respond fully and conclusively to all complaints within ten working days. However, you will receive an acknowledgement of your complaint within the first 5 days of receipt. Wherever possible we will deal with it more quickly, if we think it will take longer we will let you know.

You can contact us in whichever way is most convenient to you and we will respond to you via the same method unless instructed otherwise. Our Supporter Care Team is ready to help you over the phone, via email or mail.

From experience we have found that the best way to resolve a problem quickly is by telephone. This way we can make sure that we fully understand the issue and can gather all of the information that we need to resolve the problem in a fast and effective way.

In more complex situations where an immediate response is not possible, we will investigate the matter and get back to you as quickly as we can. We will record your complaint and between us we can agree on the best way and time to get back in contact with you.

What we will do

We will work flat out to fix problems, correct mistakes and address concerns in a way that pleases you. Please feel free when contacting us about a complaint, to let us know how you think it could be resolved. We want to reach the best possible outcome and two heads are better than one.

We will always treat you with courtesy and respect, listen to what you say, keep you informed about our progress, provide you will a prompt response and tell you who to go to if you want to escalate your complaint further.

From time to time we receive complaints that do not relate directly to something that Save the Children has done or that we are not in a position to comment on.

We are a charity with limited resources and we must use these in the best way possible.

This can mean not engaging in lengthy debates on issues that are unrelated to Save the Children’s work.

There may be rare occasions when we chose not to respond to a complaint at all. These include:

When a complaint is about something that Save the Children has no direct connection to. We may choose to reply to clear our name but we are not obliged to.
When someone unreasonably pursues a complaint that we have already responded to. They will be given escalation points but we may choose not to reply again, we will always inform you of our decision to do this.
When a complainant is being obviously abusive, prejudiced or offensive in their manner.
When a complainant is harassing a staff member.
When a complaint is incoherent or illegible.
When a complaint has clearly been sent to us and numerous other organisations as part of a bulk mailing or email. In this instance we can chose whether it is necessary for us to reply or not.
Save the Children cannot respond to complaints made anonymously. However, we will investigate the complaint and use the information to improve in any way that we can.

Who else can help?

We really hope that our Supporter Care Team are able to resolve your complaint in an honest, open and satisfactory way.

However if after contacting our Supporter Care Team you are still unhappy then you can write, either by letter or email, directly to Melva Nairne, Head of Supporter Operations.

Supporter Services Manager
Save the Children UK
1 St John’s Lane
London
EC1M 4AR
m.nairne@savethechildren.org.uk

Please outline the details of the complaint, why you have not been satisfied with our response up to now and what you would like us to do to put things right.

Save the Children 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 here or via telephone: 0300 999 3407. They can also be contacted at the address below:

Fundraising Regulator
2nd Floor, CAN Mezzanine
49-51 East Road
London, N1 6AH
www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk

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 1227
Liverpool
L69 3UG
0845 3000 218
www.charity-commission.gov.uk

Our pledge

We treat all comments and complaints as an opportunity to improve. We are happy to acknowledge the mistakes that we have made, sincerely apologise for them and then try to prevent them from happening again in the future. Thank you for helping us to provide a better service.