Introduction
Steve Morgan Foundation is committed to maintaining high standards across everything we do.
Our small team of staff work hard to achieve these standards but we recognise that there are times when we fall short.
Whilst we regret to receive any complaint, we recognise that legitimate complaints provide a positive opportunity to improve our customer service standards and the quality of our work.
What to do if you have a complaint
If you have a complaint related to safeguarding, we take this extremely seriously. Where you have a concern about the behaviour of a Steve Morgan Foundation staff member or volunteer in any situation, please ensure that you tell us about it immediately so that appropriate action can be taken.
If you have a complaint about any other aspect of the Steve Morgan Foundation, please tell us as soon as possible. If we do not know about a problem, we cannot begin to resolve it for you and take action to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
All formal complaints are directed to our CEO to ensure they receive the highest priority.
How to contact us
Often the easiest way for you to register a complaint, and for us to resolve it, is by phone. Simply call 01928 706555. Our phone lines are open Monday to Friday from 08.30am to 5.30pm.
You can email us at complaints@stevemorganfoundation.org.uk
You can also write to us at:
Steve Morgan Foundation
Bridgemere House
Chester Road
Preston Brook
Cheshire
WA7 3BD
What we will do on receiving your complaint
We will listen, record your complaint, and advise you how it will be handled.
We will investigate whenever necessary. If the complaint involves a member of staff, we will not divulge the name of the complainant during an investigation unless we are specifically given permission to do so.
We will take action to resolve the problem and tell you what that action is.
We will take steps to avoid a repeat occurrence.
At all times we will treat you with understanding and respect. All we ask is that you do the same for our staff.
Confidential information in relation to your complaint will be handled sensitively.
We are not able to respond to anonymous complaints. We do not deal with matters for which the Charity is not directly responsible unless it involves a safeguarding issue.
Complaint response times
We would appreciate your understanding that, with a small staff team, we cannot always respond to your complaint immediately, although we will respond as soon as we can.
You will receive an initial acknowledgement and/or response within ten working days of receipt of your complaint and we expect to resolve most problems within that time.
Where a more in-depth investigation is required, we aim to provide a full response within 20 working days. If there are exceptional circumstances, where that is not possible to meet these timings, we will keep you informed.
What constitutes a legitimate complaint?
We regard a legitimate complaint as any expression of dissatisfaction with any aspect of Steve Morgan Foundation which is under the control of the Charity, its staff, or volunteers.
What if our response does not satisfy you?
If you do not receive a satisfactory response to your complaint, you can contact the Charity Commission using the online complaint form found at www.charitycommission.gov.uk.
What to do if you have a complaint about a Steve Morgan Foundation vehicle?
There are more than 100 Steve Morgan Foundation vehicles operating in our remit area and beyond. On occasion we are contacted when a concerned member of the public feels they are being driven dangerously or used inappropriately. We take all complaints relating to Steve Morgan Foundation vehicles seriously, especially if this concerns the safety of children, passengers, pedestrians and other road users. If you are concerned that a criminal offence may have been committed, then please report this directly to the police.
Steve Morgan Foundation does not own or have responsibility for maintaining any of the vehicles carrying the Foundation’s livery. They are run and operated by the schools and community organisations to which they have been donated. This means we have no control over their day-to-day use. As a responsible charity we do, of course, remain in contact with all of our vehicle beneficiaries and we always pass on any complaint we receive.
If you are concerned about how a Steve Morgan Foundation vehicle is being driven or the purposes for which it is being used and know which school or organisation owns the minibus, please contact them directly. Vehicle owners always find it most helpful to hear directly from the person who reported the issue.
If you are unsure who the owner is or feel uncomfortable about being in direct contact with them, you can send us an e-mail to complaints@stevemorganfoundation.org.uk, providing the registration number of the vehicle and outlining your concern. If you have taken any photographs of the incident or circumstances, please attach them to your e-mail. It is important that we have the registration number as without this information, we won’t be able to establish the holder of the vehicle and will be unable to pass on your concerns.
If you have directed your complaint to us here at the Foundation, you will hear back from us within five working days and we’ll ask you if you are happy for us to pass your contact details on to the holder of the vehicle so that they can respond to you directly. Under our data protection policy, we cannot pass on your details unless you explicitly give us permission to do so. If you were able to give us the registration number, we will provide you with contact details for the owner so you can pursue your complaint directly with them if you would prefer to do that.
If you would like us to forward your complaint to the vehicle holder, we will do that together with your contact details if appropriate. Please be aware that if you want to receive feedback from the school or organisation concerned, you will need to provide contact details so that they can get in touch with you directly, as we are unable to forward responses on a vehicle owner’s behalf. Once they are aware of a problem, it is the owner’s responsibility to take any necessary action and advise the complainant of what they have done to rectify the situation.