COMPLAINTS HANDLING POLICY 

1. Hackney Outdoors CIC views complaints as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future, as well as a chance to put things right for the person or organisation that has made the complaint. Our policy is 

   1. to provide a fair complaints procedure which is clear and easy to use for anyone wishing to make a complaint; 

   2. to publicise the existence of our complaints procedure so that people know how to contact us to make a complaint;

   3. to make sure everyone at the CIC knows what to do if a complaint is received; 

   4. to make sure all complaints are investigated fairly and in a timely way; 

   5. to make sure that complaints are, wherever possible, resolved and that relationships are repaired; and 

   6. to gather information which helps us to improve what we do

2. Definition of a complaint:

   1. A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, about any aspect of the CIC. 

   2. Complaints may come from donors and other individuals who we contact about our work, or any other person or organisation with an interest in the CIC and its activities. 

   3. A complaint can be received verbally, by phone, by email, through social media or in writing. 

3. Confidentiality: All complaint information will be handled sensitively, telling only those who need to know and following any relevant data protection requirements. 

4. Responsibility: Overall responsibility for this policy and its implementation lies with the Board of Directors of the CIC. 

5. Review: This policy is reviewed regularly and updated as required.

6. Complaints procedure 

   1. Written complaints may be sent to the CIC at C/O 48 Defoe Road, London N16 0EH or by email to nina@hackneyoutdoors.co.uk. 

   2. Verbal complaints may be made by phone or in person to any of the CIC’s freelancers/staff, volunteers or Directors.

   3. Complaints can also be made directly to The Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies (the CIC Regulator) or, if the complaint relates to the use of the complainant’s personal information by the CIC, to the Information Commissioner’s Office (the ICO) (see paragraph 11).

7. Receiving complaints: Complaints may arrive through channels publicised for that purpose or through any other contact details or opportunities the complainant may have. Complaints received by telephone or in person need to be recorded. The person who receives a phone or in person complaint should: 

   1. write down the facts of the complaint;

   2. take the complainant's name, address and telephone number;

   3. note down the relationship of the complainant to the CIC (e.g. mailing list member or donor);

   4. tell the complainant that the CIC has a complaints procedure; 

   5. tell the complainant what will happen next and how long it will take; and 

   6. where appropriate, ask the complainant to send a written account by post or by email so that the complaint is recorded in the complainant’s own words. 

   7. For further guidelines about handling verbal complaints, see the Appendix

8. Resolving complaints – Stage One. Informally Registering a Complaint 

   1. Many complaints can be resolved informally. In the first instance, contact Nina Lovelace, Director at Hackney Outdoors CIC who will endeavour to resolve the matter. 

   2. This is the most appropriate route for most concerns and issues especially those that do not indicate serious misconduct and where the complainant agrees.

   3. Complainants should be encouraged to speak openly about their concerns and reassured that what they say will be treated with appropriate confidence.

   4. The response should aim to satisfy the complainant that his/her concerns have been taken seriously and an apology and explanation offered as appropriate. The response should also refer to any remedial action that is to be taken.

9. Stage Two: Formally Registering a Complaint 

   1. If a complainant is not satisfied with the response they have received at Stage One (informal), or would prefer their complaint to be formally investigated, they should then use Stage Two of this procedure. 

   2. All Stage Two complaints, from complainants wishing to register a complaint through a formal manner, should be forwarded to FAO The Board of Directors, 48 Hackney Outdoors CIC, 48 Defoe Road, London N16 0EH.

   3. All complaints will be acknowledged by the director to whom they have complained/been directed to within three working days from the date it is received. The letter will contain the following information: 

      1. Name, postal address, email address, telephone number of the person who will investigate the complaint.

      2. The date the investigation will start.

      3. An offer of support where appropriate. 

      4. Where a complainant has given the details of the complaint verbally to one of the directors identified above, the letter will also include a summary of the complaint written down. 

   4. Consent to access information about a person using a service for the purpose of investigating a complaint is implied when the complaint is raised by the same person. Confirmation of this should be included within the initial acknowledgement response letter.

10. Reviewing the Policy Process 

    1. The Board of Directors for Hackney Outdoors CIC will make arrangements for a review of the complaint- handling process, and will inform you of how the review will be carried out.

    2. The decision of the process review will be final. The Board of Directors will communicate in writing within 30 working days of receiving a complaint: 

       1. Whether or not the procedure has been followed properly and fairly. 

       2. The reason for the decision

       3. The redress, if appropriate, which will be offered e.g. an apology, additional help, or directing to other sources of advice or support.

       4. What action may be taken in light of the review. 

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DATA PROTECTION AND HANDLING POLICY

1. Hackney Outdoors CIC is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals who make a booking through our website and attend one of our services. This Policy covers Hackney Outdoor’s use of personal data collected from you or from you on behalf of a child. We treat any data collected or obtained in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act (DPA 2018). 

2. Data Controller. The Data Controller who is responsible for your personal data is Nina Lovelace, 48 Defoe Road, London N160EH email nklovelace@gmail.com. You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk), but we would appreciate the chance to deal with any concerns you have before raising the issue with the ICO.

3. Personal Data Collected and How It Is Processed. When registering for an event on our website, you will be required to provide personal data in relation to yourself but also for any children who you might be registering to attend our sessions or clubs. Personal data in this Policy means information that specifically identifies you (and any child of yours) as an individual.

4. Information We Collect. The information we collect about you will include

   1. Full Name, Contact details (email and address), Permissions e.g. mailing list opt-in

   2. If you are the person with parental responsibility for a child registering for our services we will also collect confirmation of parental responsibility, and the details of the child that you are registering for our clubs or sessions. The information we collect from you about such children is as follows: Full Name, Date of birth, Medical information including contact details of GP, Emergency contact, Additional permissions 

   3. The collection by us of any health or special care related information is so that we can ensure our services are run safely and the interests of your child are protected while in our care. For example, we use medical information to help prepare Group, Site & Activity Risk & Benefit Assessments to prepare for any medical eventuality. 

5. Information We Collect From Other Parties. Generally we will only collect information about yourself, or any child you have responsibility for, directly from you.  In some limited situations, such as where a school or local authority is providing the funding for a child’s attendance to one of our sessions, or own the site which is hosting the event, registration information about you and your child may be provided directly by them.

6. Information We Provide To Other Parties. We generally do not provide any personal data about yourself and any child you may be registering for an event to a third party. However, the following are times when personal data will be provided to a third party:

   1. To any contracted activity professional who helps us run and supervise any specific activity session eg freelance Forest School Leaders

   2. To a school or local authority or another party who is providing access to the grounds or facilities used for the session or club, where such information is needed for registering those at the facility

7. How We Use Any Personal Data

   1. We use personal data collected from you mainly for the purposes of providing our services. We generally do not share information with other parties unless required by law as described in this Policy. We will only collect and process your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly the basis upon which we process your data or that of your child is in the following circumstances:

   2. Where we need to perform the booking that we are about to enter or have entered with you.

   3. Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests to allow us to organise and run safe and enjoyable activity courses for all attendees. We make sure that we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. 

   4. If the data relates to your child, we will consider the interests of your child. We will ensure that no such personal data is processed where the impact on you (or your child) overrides our interests unless we have your consent or are required or permitted by law.

8. Data Security

   1. We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality. We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

9. Data Retention

   1. We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

10. Your Legal Rights. Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. You have the right to

    1. Request access to your personal data, known as a data subject access request

    2. Request a correction of the personal data that we hold on you 

    3. Request erasure of your personal data. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.

    4. Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.

    5. Object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. 

    6. Request restriction of processing of your personal data. 

    7. Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. 

    8. Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. 

11. Exercising Rights: If you wish to exercise any of the rights above, please email Nina Lovelace. You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data or to exercise any of the other rights) but we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances. We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

12. Response Times: We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made several requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

13. Cookies. The only cookies we use on our website are Session Cookies. These are temporary cookies that remain in the cookie file of your browser until you leave our website. These allow you to carry information across the pages of our website and avoid you having to re-enter information.

14. Changes to this Policy. If there are any changes to this Privacy Policy, we will replace this page with an updated version. It is therefore in your own interest to check the "Privacy Policy" page any time you access our website to be aware of any changes which may occur from time to time.

15. Feedback: Any comments or suggestions on how we manage your privacy will be welcome and can be submitted by emailing nklovelace@gmail.com