Policy

Complaints & Whistleblowing

We want to hear when we get things wrong. Feedback and complaints help us improve, and they keep us accountable to the communities we serve, our partners and our supporters.

1. Who can complain

Anyone: community members and programme participants, partners, donors, volunteers, staff, suppliers and members of the public.

2. What you can raise

• The conduct of anyone working for or with the Foundation
• The quality, fairness or safety of our programmes
• Suspected fraud, corruption or misuse of resources (see Anti-Fraud & Anti-Corruption)
• Safeguarding concerns — these follow our Safeguarding Policy
• How we handle your personal data
• Any other concern about how we work

3. How we handle it

1. Receive: by email, WhatsApp, or in person at programme activities once they begin. Anonymous reports are accepted.
2. Acknowledge: we confirm we have received it and explain the next steps.
3. Assess: we decide how it should be handled. Safeguarding and fraud concerns are prioritised.
4. Investigate: fairly and confidentially. No one looks into a complaint about themselves. A complaint about the Executive Director is handled by the Trustee.
5. Respond: we tell you the outcome and any action taken, as far as confidentiality allows.
6. Appeal: if you are not satisfied, you can ask the Board of Trustees to review the decision.

4. Whistleblowing

Staff, volunteers, partners and suppliers who report wrongdoing in good faith are protected. We keep the reporter's identity confidential, and we do not tolerate retaliation of any kind. Making a report you know to be false is a breach of our Code of Conduct.

5. Records and learning

Complaints are recorded securely and only those handling them can see them. Once the Foundation publishes annual reports, they will include an anonymised summary of complaints received and what changed as a result.

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