The Federation of Irish Societies exists to provide a strong representative voice for the Irish voluntary sector by liaising with government and political parties in Britain and Ireland. We also aim to provide members with a range of quality support services to ensure they thrive as organizations which support and bring together the Irish community across the UK.

Our key priorities are around health, elders, governance, policy development and funding and we aim to support our members in these and other areas.

The Federation of Irish Societies aims to provide a high level of service in all areas of our work and while we often do, occasionally we do not get it right. This is why we value both compliments, which tell us what we are doing well, and complaints, as they help us to resolve issues where possible, and improve the service that we provide to you in the future.

All compliments and complaints will be reported to the trustees quarterly and we will also update you every 6 months in our newsletter any improvements we have made as a result of your feedback.

How to give a compliment:

We are happy to receive any positive feedback you have about our services to you and the policy and representative work we do on your behalf. You can tell anyone in the FIS team your compliment in person, or by telephone, letter or email. The team will record it in our central log in Islington. We will use this feedback as part of our regular service reviews.

Please tell us what's gone wrong

While we respect the right of customers to register their complaint with external organisations, we do request that our internal systems are exhausted before any external channels are used.

In order to ensure our services remain at a high and improving standard, we have a procedure through which you can let us know if for any reason you are not satisfied with your dealings with us.

How to make a complaint

If you are not happy about a service you have received it is usually best to let the person who is providing the service know, either by telephone, letter or email. If you feel this is not appropriate or difficult to do, inform the staff member's manager by

submitting a complaints form (available from our Islington office). When we receive your complaint we will aim to give you a response straight away but if this is not possible we will give you an initial response within 7 working days.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation:

If you are not happy with the outcome of this response, or in the manner it has been dealt with you may appeal in writing to the Chief Executive within 28 days from the date of the response letter.

The Chief Executive will carry out a full and independent investigation of your complaint, before writing to you with their conclusions and actions to be taken (if applicable). If your complaint is about the Chief Executive please write to the Chairperson. We will send you written acknowledgement of your complaint within 5 working days and aim to investigate your complaint fully and give you a reply within 10 working days. If this is not possible an interim response will be sent informing you of the progress of the complaint. We will keep you informed on the progress of the investigation every 15 days until it is concluded.

If you wish to take the matter further:

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the investigation, please write to the Chairperson who will refer you complaint to the Board of Trustees.

Please note, as our Board of Trustees are volunteers your complaint will be reviewed at the next available Board of Trustees meeting.

Their decision will be final.

All complaints will be treated confidentially

Please send your complaints form to:

Ann Gould
Complaints Coordinator
Federation of Irish Societies
95 White Lion Street
Islington
London N1 9PF

Email: agould@irishsocieties.org

Tel: 020 7833 1226

• Make it simple for you to tell us what we are doing well - you can give us a compliment by telling one of the team, by telephone, letter or email.
• Enable us to use your feedback as part of our regular service reviews.

Our Complaints Resolution Procedure aims to:

• Make it simple for you to tell us what we are doing wrong - you can make a complaint by telephone, letter, or by email and submitting a complaints form.
• Respond to your complaint as quickly as possible - we aim to acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days, detailing the timescale for response and the name of the staff member who will be investigating your complaint.
• Keep you updated, every step of the way - we aim to investigate and respond to your complaint fairly, following agreed timescales and procedures. Where this is not possible, for example, if a more detailed investigation is required, we will regularly keep you informed of our progress.
• Use your feedback to improve our services and ensure that customer needs are at the heart of everything we do - we will achieve this by listening to and recording all comments and concerns; using this feedback to regularly review and improve our services.
• Communicate service improvements made as a result of customer feedback - we aim to inform our customers of these changes and how they have contributed to reducing negative feedback, wherever possible.