Complaints Policy

North Bristol & South Gloucestershire Foodbank is committed to delivering a high
standard of service to anyone who engages with our work. We believe that the best
way to improve our service is by learning from the people who use it.
We welcome comments, compliments and complaints from the people who use
our food bank, referral agencies, volunteers and anyone else we come into contact
with in our work. These help us to see what we are doing well and where we can
make improvements.
We aim to promote an environment where people are encouraged to raise and
discuss issues informally and, where necessary, seek solutions to prevent them
from developing into problems or complaints. However, we recognise that there
may be situations where people are not happy with the outcome of an informal
discussion or feel that the issue needs to be taken further. In these cases, North
Bristol & South Gloucestershire Foodbank has a complaints procedure so that we
can work towards a resolution in a fair and transparent manner.

Our promise and commitment
We recognise that there may be times when our services and activities do not
meet your expectations. If this happens, it is important that we know about it as
soon as possible so that we can deal with the situation effectively to try to prevent
it from happening again and to learn from our mistakes. We promise to take all
feedback and complaints seriously and to deal with them in a timely manner.

How to register a complaint or give feedback
If you have a complaint or would like to share a concern, compliment or comment
on any aspect of our service, you can contact us in one of the following ways:
● In-person to staff / volunteers at the food bank
● By phone: 0117 472 5172
● By email: [email protected]
● Write to the following address:
Foodbank Manager, North Bristol & South Gloucestershire Foodbank,
Foodbank Office, 286 Filton Avenue, Horfield, Bristol, BS7 0BA

Please tell us what your complaint or feedback is about and what you would like to
see happen as a result. Please also tell us how we may contact you.

What will happen after I complain?
1. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days of receipt and
provide you with the name of the person responsible for investigating the
matter on your behalf.
2. The person responsible for the investigation will write to you with their findings
and proposed resolution within 28 days from receipt of the complaint*.
3. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the investigation you may appeal or
escalate your concerns to the Foodbank Manager, letters must be received
within 21 working days of the date on the correspondence notifying you of the
outcome of the first investigation.
4. The complaint will be reinvestigated and you will be informed of the outcome
within 10 working days*.
*unless the complaint is particularly complex or time-consuming, in which case
you will be kept informed of the progress of the investigation and notified of the
expected date of completion.
Wherever possible, North Bristol & South Gloucestershire Foodbank will respect
your confidentiality and keep your complaint confidential as far as possible. Any
information about the complaint will usually only be shared with those who need
to know in order to help resolve it.
There may, however, be occasions when we cannot provide absolute
confidentiality, for example in circumstances where a child or vulnerable adult may
be at risk of harm.

Data Privacy Statement
North Bristol & South Gloucestershire Foodbank is registered as a data controller
with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office under registration
number ZA237391.

We use the personal information that you provide in accordance with the Data
Protection Act 2018 to process your complaint. We have a legitimate interest in
holding this information in order to be able to monitor and improve our services.
We will collect personal information including your name and contact details,
including postal address, telephone number, email address and social media
contact information, in order to be able to investigate your complaint and to
communicate with you about it. We will also collect sufficient information about
the situation that you are contacting us about to be able to understand what has
happened and help you seek a resolution to your complaint.
Where your complaint relates to services involving our partners, for example, a
referral agency or the Trussell Trust, then we may need to share your information
with a third party.

We keep this information for 5 years after your complaint has been closed unless
we have a requirement to keep it longer, in which case we will inform you of this.
After this time the data will be aggregated and anonymised.
For further details about how we use your personal information see the privacy
section on our website at https://www.nbsg.foodbank.org.uk or email us at [email protected].