Complaints Policy

Last reviewed: May 2025 · Next review: May 2026

What counts as a complaint

A complaint is any concern about the way Wellcome Church, its trustees or its volunteers have behaved or treated someone. This includes concerns about our services, events, or how we have handled your personal information.

Safeguarding concerns are handled under our separate Safeguarding Policy.

Step 1 — Talk to us informally

Many concerns can be sorted out quickly with a conversation. If you feel comfortable doing so, please speak to one of our trustees or contact us at info@wellcome.church.

We will respond within 7 days.

Step 2 — Make a formal complaint

If you are not satisfied, or would prefer to go straight to a formal complaint, please write to us at info@wellcome.church with:

• Your name and contact details
• A clear description of your concern
• What you would like to happen as a result

We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and give you a full response within 28 days. If we need more time, we will tell you why.

Step 3 — If you are still not satisfied

If you are unhappy with our response, you can refer your complaint to the Charity Commission for England and Wales:

Please note the Charity Commission will normally expect you to have gone through our complaints process first.

Confidentiality

We will handle all complaints with care and discretion. We will only share information with those who need to know in order to respond to your complaint.

Anonymous complaints

You may raise a concern anonymously. We will consider anonymous concerns but may be limited in what we can investigate without being able to follow up with you.

Vexatious complaints

We will treat all complaints in good faith. If a complaint is found to be deliberately false or made to cause harm, we may not be able to continue engaging with it.