COMPLAINTS NOTICE
1. Purpose and scope of Notice
Our intention at all times is to deal with people fairly and appropriately. If you feel that we have not met that standard, please let us know. Where there is reason to believe our conduct has fallen short, we want to resolve any issues and learn from what has happened so we can continuously improve.
This document explains how the organisation handles complaints about its conduct from external parties, including members of the public, service users, and subcontractors.
This Notice does not cover complaints made about an external service provider. If you wish to comment on the performance or behaviour of an external service provider, you should raise it directly with that organisation, using their own complaints procedure.
2. What is a complaint?
We will treat any expression of dissatisfaction about our conduct as a complaint. However, we ask that you contact us in writing, as outlined in the next section, so that we can properly consider the matter.
This Notice covers complaints about:
how the organisation has treated you or others.
the organisation’s conduct and compliance with its own procedures, processes, and policies; and
the behaviour of our staff, volunteers, and the Board and its members.
It may be that we receive correspondence that does not fall within our definition of a complaint or that does not raise any issue warranting a deep investigation. This may apply, for instance, to:
objections to certain steps, recommendations or decisions we have taken in compliance with a legal requirement.
disapproval of the organisation’s refusal to take action in a matter where we have no legal power to act.
anonymous complaints; or
malicious, repetitive or vexatious claims such as harassment of staff or repeated submissions of a complaint to which a response under stage two of our complaint procedure has been provided. We will not reply to rude or abusive emails, calls or letters. In all other cases, we will give brief reasons for our views, but having done so once, we will not normally engage in further correspondence on the merits of the position we have taken.
The Notice does not cover matters that are subject to separate procedures, which include the following:
Requests, or refusals for requests, for information under the Data Subject Access Requests under the UK General Data Protection Regulation.
Concerns raised by workers, which are dealt with under our Whistleblowing policy.
3. How to complain
The contact details are available on our website. A complaint may be made by emailing hello@givingtogether.gobal, filling in the online complaints form below, or sending by post to:
Maclellan Giving Together Foundation
22 St John Street
Newport Pagnell
Buckinghamshire
MK16 8HJ
It will help us to deal quickly and thoroughly with your complaint if you can state that you are making a complaint, set out your concern in writing as clearly as possible, and provide your contact details.
If you would like to know how we collect, process and store your data, please see our Privacy Policy.
4. What you can expect from us when handling a complaint
Our policy is to take legitimate complaints seriously and to deal with them in accordance with the procedures set out in this notice.
Our service standards
We aim to deal with complaints promptly and sensitively and always be courteous and helpful. We hope, too, that you will always be polite and fair in your dealings with our staff. All complaints received will be dealt with confidentially and in accordance with the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation.
We will keep complete and accurate records of all complaints we receive so that we can monitor the types of problems reported to us, the best way to resolve them and how long we are taking to deal with complaints. This also helps us to take a closer look at how we can improve in the future.
If you make a complaint, we will investigate it thoroughly and impartially, without discrimination or prejudice. We aim to resolve matters as promptly as we can. Still, if a complaint raises serious issues, we may need to take extra time to investigate it thoroughly and correctly so that, wherever we can, we resolve the problem the first time, learn from it, and make improvements.
We will ensure that all decisions we make are proportionate, appropriate and fair given the circumstances of each complaint.
Stage one
If you have supplied your contact details, we will send an acknowledgement of your complaint within 30 days of receipt. Your complaint will then be passed to an appropriate person who was not involved in the events that led to the complaint and who is in a position and has the relevant experience to consider it. We will aim to respond as soon as possible, and in any event within 20 working days. We may need to contact you to request more information or clarification before making a final response.
When we provide you with a final response, we will clearly set out the steps we took in investigating the complaint, along with our views and reasons for this. Where we identify mistakes in our approach, we will acknowledge them, set out the details of remedial steps or changes we consider appropriate in the circumstances, and explain what we will do to prevent the problem from recurring. We will also inform you of your right to request a review of your complaint if you are not satisfied with our response.
Stage two
We expect most complaints to be resolved at stage one. However, if you consider the response you have received is not fair or appropriate, you may contact us to request a review of your complaint by the Chair of the Board, or the Managing Director if the complaint involves the Board. You should do this within 20 working days of receiving a stage one response, unless there is a special reason to do so later.
We will acknowledge your request to review the complaint within five working days of receipt. Again, we may need to contact you to request more information or clarification before making a final decision. We will aim to respond within 20 working days of receipt.
Extending time limits
We aim to complete all complaints within the timescales above; however, if a complaint is very complex, it may occasionally be necessary to extend the time limit. If this is the case, we will keep the complainant informed of the investigation’s progress, the reasons for the delay, and the new deadline.
5. If you remain dissatisfied
If, after following the 2 stages of our complaints procedure, you remain dissatisfied, you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed externally.
Contact the ICO
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Fax: 01625 524510
Contact the Charities Commission
Charity Commission
PO Box 211
Bootle
L20 7YX
You will get a much quicker answer by using the phone: 0300 066 9197.
6. Other information
The Board is informed of any complaints received about the organisation or its staff at each meeting.
The organisation welcomes any comments or suggestions about our complaint procedure to ensure it operates as efficiently and effectively as possible. Please send any comments to us by email or post.
Last updated April 2026