COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

If you have a complaint, you wish the club to look into, please follow the complaints procedure below.

This is the policy that we will follow if your complaint is about someone’s conduct or behaviour. This could be because you think that someone has behaved in a way that is unsafe, unprofessional, discriminatory, offensive or intimidating. It could be because someone has broken important rules or the Code of Conduct.

Values and Principles

You have the right to complain: we take complaints seriously. You should not be harassed, bullied or put at a disadvantage because of making a complaint.

Equality

You should receive a proper response to your complaint, regardless of your age, gender, disability, race, religion, nationality, social status, sexual orientation or political persuasion.

Fairness

We believe that complaints should be dealt with fairly and openly. Unless it would put other people at risk, those affected by a complaint should have a chance to contribute and respond to any investigation.

Safety and welfare take priority: we will always give priority to concerns that affect safety and welfare. Issues affecting children will be treated very seriously.

Confidentiality

We treat complaints as confidentially as possible. Sometimes we have to discuss complaints with others to investigate. If we are worried about a risk to a person or to the public, we might need to pass on our concerns to the Safeguarding Officer. If necessary, we will get advice from other organisations such as the Police, Social Services or GBSA.

How to make a complaint

If you have a complaint, it is often best to start by having a conversation with our club Chairperson at Red Rose Roller Skating Club, identified on the Committee Members page. Should the complaint be in relation to the Chairperson, the Club Secretary or any member of the committee can be alerted

Should the matter not be resolved, then please speak again to Chairperson or committee member immediately.

We accept anonymous complaints, but it is often very difficult to investigate these properly. It is easier for us to handle your complaint if you provide as much detail as possible.

We will endeavour to give an initial response to your complaint within a week. If the matter is urgent, we will do our best to respond more quickly.

We will investigate your complaint fairly. This means that we will discuss the complaint with all of the relevant people. We will try to gather any information that may be relevant to handling your complaint. Sometimes we will ask to show copies of information from the investigation to other people to allow them to respond. This is because we believe in fairness and openness.

We will not share information if we think that this will endanger someone’s safety or welfare. To keep you informed, you will be given the details of a person who will be your point of contact at Red Rose Roller Skating Club. That person will make sure that you understand the process, and will help to answer any questions or concerns that you have. You will be given an update on the progress of your complaint every two weeks.

If there are delays in handling your complaint for any reason, we will keep you informed. If your complaint leads to formal disciplinary action against someone, we will usually inform you about the outcome. We will not tell you the outcome if that person is a child, or if we believe that telling you would create a risk to other people. In this situation, we will still try to tell you about how you are affected by the action that we have taken. Complaints should be addressed and handed in or sent to the Chairperson or another committee member.

Possible Outcomes

In many cases, we are able to resolve problems informally. This might include:

–          A change in arrangements for particular activities

–          An explanation or apology

–          An agreement to communicate or act differently in future

If an informal resolution is not reached, then the Chairperson will seek to involve an independent complaints person / committee. This could be from another governed sporting activity outside of Red Rose Roller Skating to ensure impartiality.

Red Rose Roller Skating Club may decide to take the following action inf appropriate:

–          Formal disciplinary action, verbal / written warning or cancellation of club membership.

–          Changes in roles for Red Rose team.

–          A decision to refer the case to another organisation such as the Police, Social Services, GBSA.

Closure of your complaint without action

If you are worried about a child’s welfare, you can contact the following people:

–          The Child Protection Officer at Red Rose Roller Skating club

–          Childline

–           NSPCC advice line

–          Local Social Services

–          The Police

–          GBSA.

Questions or queries about this policy. If you have a general query about this complaints policy then please contact a member of the committee.