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Complaints Policy and Procedure

Smile For Life Children’s Charity

Last reviewed: October 2026

Our commitment to you

At Smile For Life Children’s Charity, we are committed to providing welcoming, safe, inclusive and high-quality services for everyone involved in our work.

We want every child and young person we support to feel valued, respected and listened to. We are equally committed to treating families, carers, volunteers, staff, supporters and members of the public with courtesy and respect.

We work hard to get things right, but recognise that sometimes we may fall short of expectations.

When this happens, we want to know.

We welcome feedback, concerns and complaints as opportunities to learn, improve and ensure we continue providing the best possible support.

Making a complaint will never result in someone being treated unfairly or disadvantaged in accessing our services.

1. Who can make a complaint?

Anyone who has a concern about Smile For Life Children’s Charity can raise it with us.

This includes:

  • Children and young people participating in our programmes.

  • Parents, carers and family members.

  • Volunteers and work placement participants.

  • Donors, fundraisers and supporters.

  • Customers of Café Beam.

  • Partner organisations and professionals.

  • Members of the public.

Someone may also make a complaint on another person’s behalf, where appropriate and with the necessary permission or authority.

Staff employment grievances and whistleblowing concerns may be handled through separate procedures.

2. What can you complain about?

You can contact us about any aspect of our work that concerns you, including:

  • The quality or delivery of our services and activities.

  • The way you or someone else has been treated.

  • The behaviour or conduct of staff or volunteers.

  • Accessibility, inclusion or discrimination.

  • Safety, wellbeing or safeguarding concerns.

  • Fundraising activities or communications.

  • Café Beam services or customer experiences.

  • Communication, administration or decisions made by the charity.

You do not need to know whether something is officially a complaint. If something is worrying you, please tell us.

3. How to make a complaint

We want it to be as easy as possible for you to raise a concern.

You can contact us in whichever way feels most comfortable.

By telephone

0191 2844166

By email

info@smileforlife.org.uk

By post

Smile For Life Children’s Charity
The Old Fire Station
234–236 High Street
Gosforth
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE3 1HH

In person

You can speak to a member of our team at one of our services or activities.

You can also ask someone you trust to help you make a complaint.

It is helpful if you can tell us:

  • Your name and how you would prefer us to contact you.

  • What happened and when.

  • Who was involved, if relevant.

  • How the situation affected you.

  • What you would like us to do to put things right.

You do not need to provide all this information before contacting us.

We will also consider anonymous complaints wherever sufficient information is available.

4. Making complaints accessible

We recognise that some of the young people we support may find it difficult to express their concerns or communicate in conventional ways.

We will make reasonable adjustments to ensure everyone has a fair opportunity to be heard.

This may include:

  • Listening to a complaint made verbally.

  • Providing information in Easy Read or another accessible format.

  • Allowing someone to use pictures, communication aids or other preferred methods.

  • Providing additional time or support.

  • Allowing a parent, carer, advocate or trusted person to assist.

  • Arranging a private, comfortable environment for a conversation.

We will take particular care to ensure young people are listened to and their views respected.

No one should feel worried about raising a concern or fear that doing so will affect their relationship with the charity.

5. What happens when you make a complaint?

We aim to deal with complaints fairly, sensitively and as quickly as possible.

Stage 1 – Acknowledgement

We will acknowledge your complaint within five working days of receiving it.

We will explain who is dealing with your complaint and what will happen next.

Stage 2 – Investigation

Your complaint will be considered by an appropriate member of our team who, wherever possible, has not been directly involved in the matter.

We may need to:

  • Speak with you to understand your concerns.

  • Gather relevant information.

  • Speak with staff, volunteers or others involved.

  • Review relevant records or procedures.

  • Consider what action may be appropriate.

We will treat everyone involved fairly and respectfully.

Stage 3 – Our response

We aim to provide a full response within ten working days.

Where a complaint is more complex and requires additional investigation, we will explain the delay, provide an updated timescale and keep you informed.

Our response will explain, where appropriate:

  • What we have found.

  • Whether your complaint has been upheld, partially upheld or not upheld.

  • Any action we propose to take.

  • Any improvements we intend to make.

  • What you can do if you remain dissatisfied.

We will respect confidentiality and may not be able to share personal or disciplinary information about other individuals.

6. What if you are unhappy with our response?

If you are dissatisfied with how your complaint has been handled or the outcome, you can request a review.

Please contact us and explain why you remain unhappy and what you would like us to reconsider.

Your complaint will then be referred to the Chair of Trustees or another appropriate trustee who has not previously been involved.

Where the complaint concerns the Chief Executive, it may be referred directly to the Chair of Trustees.

Where the complaint concerns the Chair of Trustees, another independent trustee will be appointed to oversee the review.

We will acknowledge your request for a review within five working days and aim to provide a final response within 20 working days.

If more time is required, we will explain why and keep you updated.

The review will consider whether the complaint was investigated fairly, whether relevant information was considered and whether the outcome was reasonable.

7. Safeguarding and serious concerns

The safety and wellbeing of children, young people and adults at risk are our highest priorities.

Any complaint involving suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation, discrimination or a serious risk of harm will be treated with particular urgency.

Safeguarding concerns will be referred promptly to the charity’s Designated Safeguarding Lead or another appropriate senior person and handled in accordance with our Safeguarding Policy.

Where necessary, information may be shared with statutory safeguarding services, the police or other appropriate authorities.

If someone is in immediate danger, call 999.

Safeguarding concerns will not be delayed by the normal complaints procedure.

We will also consider whether any serious incident needs to be reported to the Charity Commission or another relevant authority.

8. Confidentiality and fairness

We will handle complaints sensitively and share information only with those who need it to investigate or respond appropriately.

Personal information will be managed in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable data protection legislation.

We will:

  • Listen without prejudice.

  • Treat everyone involved with dignity and respect.

  • Consider complaints objectively.

  • Avoid conflicts of interest wherever possible.

  • Protect people from unfair treatment for raising concerns.

  • Maintain appropriate records of complaints and outcomes.

We also recognise our responsibility to treat staff and volunteers fairly when concerns are raised about them.

9. Unreasonable or abusive behaviour

We understand that people may feel upset, frustrated or distressed when making a complaint.

We will always aim to respond with patience and understanding.

However, we also have a responsibility to protect our staff, volunteers and other people from threatening, abusive, discriminatory or harassing behaviour.

In exceptional circumstances, we may need to place reasonable limits on how communication takes place.

Any such decision will be proportionate, considered carefully and communicated wherever possible.

We will not refuse to consider a genuine concern simply because someone has difficulty communicating, is distressed or requires additional support.

10. Taking a complaint further

We hope to resolve concerns directly and fairly.

However, depending on the nature of your complaint, you may be able to contact an external organisation.

Fundraising complaints

If your complaint concerns fundraising activities and you remain dissatisfied with our response, you may contact the Fundraising Regulator.

The Fundraising Regulator generally expects you to have raised the matter with the charity first and allowed four weeks for a response.

Website: www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk
Telephone: 0300 999 3407

Serious concerns about the charity

The Charity Commission for England and Wales regulates registered charities and may consider serious concerns involving misconduct, mismanagement, significant financial irregularities or serious risks to beneficiaries.

It does not normally investigate routine customer service complaints or act as an appeals body for every disagreement.

Website: www.gov.uk/complain-about-charity

Data protection complaints

If your concern relates to how we have handled personal information, you may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Website: www.ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113

These external routes do not prevent anyone from contacting the police, safeguarding authorities or another appropriate body where necessary.

11. Learning from complaints

We believe that complaints are an important opportunity to improve.

We will maintain a confidential record of complaints, including their nature, investigation, outcome and any action taken.

We will periodically review complaints to identify recurring issues, areas for improvement and lessons learned.

Relevant information will be reported to our Board of Trustees so they can oversee the effectiveness of our complaints procedures and support continuous improvement.

12. Reviewing this policy

This policy will be reviewed at least annually, or sooner where changes in legislation, guidance or our services make this necessary.

Our promise

At Smile For Life Children’s Charity, we want everyone to feel safe, respected, supported and included.

We may not always get everything right, but we promise to listen, take concerns seriously, act fairly and learn from our mistakes.

Your voice matters, and your feedback helps us make a positive difference.