Complaints, Compliments and Comments Policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality service that the chemical engineering community can be proud of.

As your charity, we want you to tell us if you:

  • Would like to make a complaint if we got something wrong
  • Have a comment or feedback about our services
  • Want to compliment us if we have done something well

We strive to continuously improve and develop our services, and the complaints, compliments and comments from our community are a crucial part of this.

Complaints

We will take your complaint seriously, and we will handle it confidentially and without any bias or discrimination. We will ensure your complaint will have no impact on your ability to access our services.

How to complain

We will acknowledge your complaint within 7 days of receiving the complaint. The Benevolent Fund Manager will contact you, and will:

  • Listen to your complaint
  • Take note of the issues you raise
  • Ask you how you would like your complaint to be resolved
  • Set clear timescales for the resolution of your complaint

Following this, they will investigate your complaint. They will inform you of the outcome of your complaint in writing.

If the complaint is about the Benevolent Fund Manager, your complaint will be investigated by the Chair of the Board of Trustees.

Review

If you are unhappy with the response to your complaint, you have a right to appeal to the Chair of the Board of Trustees. The Chair will review your complaint and receive a reply to your appeal within 28 days.

Further escalation

If your complaint relates to our fundraising activities, we are registered with the Fundraising Regulator, and you may raise a complaint with the regulator.

If your complaint relates to the management and protection of your data, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner.

When can’t I make a complaint?

Our grant making decisions are based on an individual’s eligibility and circumstances based on our grant making policy. The complaints policy cannot be used to challenge these decisions and we do not operate an appeals process.

We regularly review our grant making policy to ensure it meets our objectives to provide meaningful and sustainable support to those in need and welcome any comments or feedback.

We cannot accept complaints made about historic matters more than six months ago and reserve the right to refuse any vexatious complaints.

Comments and Compliments

We are always grateful for any comments and compliments about our services. If there is anything you would like to tell us about, please let us know. We would love to hear from you.

How to contact us

You can contact us by email at support@chemengbenfund.org or via post to:

Chemical Engineers Benevolent Fund, c/o IChemE, Davis Building, Railway Terrace, Rugby, CV21 3HQ, UK