Complaints Policy
Bristol Volunteers for Develop Abroad (BVDA) is committed to providing high quality projects which meet the needs of our beneficiaries. We also aim to provide development opportunities to Bristol University students. In order to do this we need you to give us any comments about our organisation, and to tell us when we get things wrong. We want to help you resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. Our aim is to solve problems as early as possible to ensure all BVDA members are treated with equal respect.
How to make a complaint
If you wish to make a complaint, you can do so by email or letter to either the BVDA president or BVDA trustee board.
Our contact details are in the Contacting Us section below. If you require different adjustments, let us know and we will try to put those arrangements in place where we can.
Our contact details are in the Contacting Us section below. If you require different adjustments, let us know and we will try to put those arrangements in place where we can.
Responding to your complaint
We have a two-staged complaints handling procedure, explained above. At each stage it will help us to resolve your complaint quickly if you can give us as much clarity and detail as possible. If we do not have all the details required to deal with a complaint, we may contact you and ask you for more information.
If you do not feel comfortable discussing your complaint with Committee President, you are welcome to go directly to stage 2 and discuss the matter with a member of the Trustee Board instead.
If you do not feel comfortable discussing your complaint with Committee President, you are welcome to go directly to stage 2 and discuss the matter with a member of the Trustee Board instead.
Third party reporting
Complaints may be made by a third party. Third parties may include:
Where a third party is helping a complainant with a particular complaint, we need written consent from the person concerned to discuss the complaint with the third party.
- Another concerned volunteer
- Family members or friends
- Professionals such as doctors or solicitors
- Overseas Non-Governmental Organisation
Where a third party is helping a complainant with a particular complaint, we need written consent from the person concerned to discuss the complaint with the third party.
Confidentiality
All complaints received will be dealt with confidentiality and in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (in effect from the 25th May 2018), subject to the need to disclose information as required by statutory authorities and/or as a result of statutory, legal or parliamentary obligations placed on the charity.
Recording complaints
Complaint details, outcomes and actions taken are recorded by us and used for service improvement. We record all complaints we receive and collate data from them to help us understand what types of problems are most prevalent, and how well we are doing to resolve them.
We value your feedback and expect to use it to help us to:
We value your feedback and expect to use it to help us to:
- get things right in the future if we have not done so already
- become more supporter focused
- be more open and accountable
- act fairly and proportionately
- seek continuous improvement
Contacting us
Stage one complaints should be sent as follows:
By email
committee@bvda.org.uk
Stage two complaints should be sent as follows:
By email
trustees@bvda.org.uk
Last updated: 11/01/20
By email
committee@bvda.org.uk
Stage two complaints should be sent as follows:
By email
trustees@bvda.org.uk
Last updated: 11/01/20