Compliments & Complaints
Compliments
If you have positive comments about our work or would like to share how we have helped you, please email us at enquiries@ahimsa.org.uk - it is always so valuable for us to track feedback and learn from how you have experienced our service.
Complaints
OUR COMMITMENT
Ahimsa is committed to providing a wide range of quality services to those members of our community who need our help.
We always endeavour to treat you with respect and professionalism and treat you as an individual, but if you feel dissatisfied about how you or your situation has been dealt with, we also want you to let us know.
We value feedback and want to hear from you if you are dissatisfied with our service. We use feedback from complaints to continuously improve our services and address any patterns or systemic issues identified.
This procedure supports our Respect-accredited domestic abuse perpetrator programme and integrated partner support services, ensuring complaints are handled fairly while maintaining our safeguarding responsibilities.
This procedure sets out a process for raising complaints you have about the way you have been treated by Ahimsa or one of your workers. As an organisation we aim to offer a service in which all people are treated fairly and with respect. If you, a close friend, relative or client, does feel that there has been an occasion where you feel that this has not been the case the guidelines set out below offer the mechanism for taking a complaint forward.
HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT
Submitting Your Complaint
Preferred method: Please use our complaints form. The form helps ensure we have all the information we need to investigate your complaint effectively.
Alternative methods: If you need assistance completing the form due to accessibility needs, or if you prefer to make your complaint by phone or letter, please contact us:
Address: Ahimsa, Unit 16 Creykes Court, 5 Craigie Drive, The Millfields, Plymouth PL1 3JB
Phone: 01752 213535
Email:enquiries@ahimsa.org.uk
If you need help making your complaint, please contact us and we will discuss what support is available.
Requirements
Timeframe: Complaints should be made as soon as possible, and normally within one month. We may accept complaints made after this time if there are good reasons for the delay.
Length: Our Complaints Form includes guidance on how much you may write. However, if you prefer to make your complaint by letter, written complaints should be concise and focused - normally no more than 2 pages (approximately 1,000 words). Longer submissions may be returned with a request to identify the key issues.
Content: Our Complaints Form includes guidance on what to include. If subnmitting your complaint by letter instead, please clearly set out:
What happened
How it has affected you
What you would like us to do about it
THE COMPLAINTS PROCESS
ONCE A COMPLAINT IS RECEIVED
What happens:
We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days
Your complaint will be passed to the Service Manager, who is responsible for all investigations at Stage 1
STAGE 1: SERVICE MANAGER INVESTIGATION & RESPONSE
What happens:
The Service Manager will:
Review your complaint and gather relevant information
Speak to staff members involved
May contact you for clarification or additional information
Offer you a meeting to discuss your complaint if appropriate (you may bring a supporter - a relative, friend, advocate or advisor)
Investigation approach:
The depth of investigation will be proportionate to the seriousness of the complaint
We will address substantive concerns but will not respond point-by-point to lengthy or repetitive submissions
We will focus on the key issues you have raised
Written response: You will receive a written response within 30 days of your complaint being received, addressing the issues you raised and explaining our findings.
Outcome: If you are satisfied with the response, the complaint is closed. If you remain dissatisfied, you may proceed to Stage 2 (CEO review).
STAGE 2: CEO REVIEW
How to escalate: If you are not satisfied with the response you have been sent, you may escalate your complaint to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) within 10 working days of receiving the Stage 2 response.
Your escalation should specify:
Why you are unhappy with the outcome provided
Any concerns about how your complaint was handled
What you would like the CEO to address
What the CEO reviews: The CEO will assess whether:
The investigation was thorough and fair
The response addressed your complaint appropriately
Ahimsa's procedures were followed
The outcome was reasonable
Important: The CEO will not re-investigate the entire complaint but will review whether it was handled properly. This is a review of our process and response, not a complete new investigation.
Timeframe: The CEO will respond in writing within 30 days of receiving your escalation.
Outcome: If you are satisfied with the CEO’s response, the complaint is closed. If you remain dissatisfied, you may proceed to Stage 3 (Respect).
STAGE 3: ESCALATE TO RESPECT
If you remain dissatisfied after the CEO's response, you may refer your complaint to Respect, our accrediting body for domestic abuse perpetrator programs.
Contact: Respect
If you remain unhappy and believe that Ahimsa has acted unethically or outside of the national standards for work in this area set by Respect, then you have recourse to Respect by writing to:
The Director, Respect, VAI Second Floor, 200a Pentonville Road, London N1 9JP.
Phone: 020 7549 0578
Email: info@respect.uk.net
Web: www.respect.uk.net
Please note: Respect will expect you to have completed Ahimsa's internal complaints process before they will consider your complaint.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Confidentiality
All complaints will be treated confidentially. Information will only be shared with those who need to know in order to investigate and respond to your complaint, or where we have legal obligations to share information.
Safeguarding
Where a complaint raises safeguarding concerns about children or adults at risk, these will be handled separately under our safeguarding procedures. The complaints process does not override our statutory safeguarding duties.
If your complaint involves safeguarding concerns, we may need to share information with relevant agencies (such as Children's Services or the Police) regardless of the outcome of your complaint.
Vexatious or Abusive Complaints
Ahimsa reserves the right to conclude the complaints process where:
A complaint is being pursued in a manner that is vexatious, harassing, or constitutes an abuse of process
The complainant has repeatedly made the same complaint without new information
Further engagement would not be productive or proportionate
The complaint appears to be using the process to exercise control over staff
In such cases, we will issue a final response explaining our decision and close the matter. You will still have the right to refer the matter to Respect if you remain dissatisfied.
Escalation Stages
Each stage of the complaints process serves a different purpose:
Stage 1 (Service Manager): Investigation and substantive response to your complaint
Stage 2 (CEO): Review of how your complaint was handled
Stage 3 (Respect): External independent review
Escalation is not an opportunity to re-submit your entire complaint or introduce extensive new material, but to identify specific concerns about how your complaint was handled or to seek a final review.
Continuing Service
Making a complaint will not affect your access to Ahimsa's services. We are committed to working constructively with people who raise concerns about our practice.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Ahimsa
Unit 16 Creykes Court
5 Craigie Drive
The Millfields
Plymouth PL1 3JB
Tel: 01752 213535
Email: enquiries@ahimsa.org.uk
Website: www.ahimsa.org.uk
Policy notes:
Approved by: Ahimsa Management Committee
Date approved: April 2026
Review date: April 2028