King Edward's School Home Old Edwardians Website

Complaints Policy

 

The Development & OEA Office is committed to working positively with all those in the KES Community. We aim to uphold the highest standards in alumni relations and fundraising practice. 

We recognise that there may be occasions when you wish to raise concerns or register a complaint. Where this is the case, the process outlined below seeks to find a resolution for you and to identify learning opportunities for us. We take complaints seriously and seek to address them quickly and appropriately.

­­__

 

Making a complaint

 

You can contact us to make your complaint in one of the following ways:

1.       Emailing us at development@kes.org.uk

2.       Writing to us at Development & OEA Office, King Edward’s School, Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham, B15 2UA.

Please include your name, contact information and your relationship to the School, so that we can get in touch with you easily.

It is easier to look into and resolve complaints if they are raised in a timely manner. For fundraising complaints, The Fundraising Regulator recommends getting in touch with your complaint within 12 weeks.

Where a concern is raised anonymously, we will not be able to treat this as a complaint. We will however look into any concerns that are raised, on an internal basis.

 

What happens next? 

We will acknowledge complaints received and aim to respond to complaints within 10 working days, and to resolve them within 20 working days. Throughout the process, the Development & OEA Office will keep you informed of progress, respond as promptly as we can, and treat you fairly and with respect.   

On receipt of your complaint, an initial assessment will be made by the Development & OEA Office to see if it can be resolved through action, clarification or an apology. 

If not, your complaint will be passed up to Adam Kendall, for further investigation. Adam Kendall is a member of the OEA Committee, which oversees alumni relations activity, and a Trustee of The KES Trust, which is responsible for fundraising activity. 

If it is not possible to give a response within 20 working days, we will contact you to explain why and to give you an indication of when a response can be expected. We will then write to you with the outcome of the investigation by Adam Kendall and the rationale of the decision.

We will monitor and record the number of complaints we receive each year. For fundraising complaints, we will share this data with the Fundraising Regulator on request.


Escalations
 

If you are not satisfied with the response to your complaint, you can request that it is escalated. Your complaint will then be passed to the Board of Trustees for their assessment and response. Whilst Adam Kendall will share the results of his assessment in advance of their discussion, he will not participate further in the escalation process. An acknowledgment will be sent to you, containing a timeline and next steps for resolution. 

 

Fundraising complaints 

The KES Trust (RCN: 1129776) is registered with the Fundraising Regulator who sets and maintains the standards for charitable fundraising in the UK, ensuring that fundraising is respectful, open, honest and accountable to the public. We adhere to the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice and seek to go above and beyond their guidance wherever possible. If you believe that we may be in breach of the Code of Fundraising Practice, please raise your concerns by following the steps outlined above. 

If your complaint relates to fundraising and is not answered to your satisfaction by the Board of Trustees, you are welcome to contact the Fundraising Regulator, who will review your complaint independently. They will provide a final response on completion of their investigation.

__

 

If you would like more information, please do not hesitate to get in touch.