Seven Spikes Relief Refund Policy

Seven Spikes Relief Refund Policy

1. Policy Statement
   • Seven Spikes Relief (hereinafter referred to as “The Charity”) work hard to ensure that donors making a contribution towards the work that we do; have an easy and straightforward experience. However, we recognise that there may be circumstances in which mistakes may be made.

2. Regulation
   • As a registered Charity, we are subject to regulation by the Charities Commission for England and Wales under The Charities Act 2011.
   • We also adhere to the Fundraising Code and standards as laid out by the Fundraising Regulator.
   • Other legislation may apply to the refunding of any donation, relating to Financial Fraud and Money Laundering: this is not an exhaustive list and staff and trustees may need to take specialist advice.
   • As a rule, Charities are not permitted to refund any donations. However, there may be exceptional circumstances.
   • The Code of Fundraising Practice (Fundraising Regulator) refers to guidance issued by the Institute of Fundraising. http://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/code-of-fundraising-practice/guidance/acceptance-andrefusal-of-donations-guidance/

This states:

1.7 Returning Donations a) Fundraising organisations which are charities MUST* not return donations unless certain criteria are fulfilled. For all other fundraising organisations, donations MUST only be refunded in line with any policies or in exceptional circumstances. It may not be lawful to return a donation and fundraisers MUST take advice from legal advisers or the Charity Commission / OSCR before doing so.

3. Process
   • Any request for a refund should be made in writing to the Chief Executive Officer who will assign a Manager to begin an investigation. The investigation will look into the circumstances of the request, including personal details of the donor, the intended purpose of the donation (if applicable), the method of donor payment, and the reasons for the refund. Advice will be sought from the Charity Commission to inform a final report made from the Chief Executive Officer to the trustees to make a decision under advice from the Charity Commission or other agencies as appropriate.
   • Details for donors requesting a refund will be made available on the SSR’s website with the following wording: Charities are not permitted to refund donations by law, except under very exceptional circumstances.

If you wish to request a refund for a donation that you have made, you will need to contact us at our Head Office by either telephone on +44(0)3333441190 / +44(0)7479984225 ; or in writing at our postal address which is:

Seven Spikes Relief

Unit1, Alexander Charles House,

Station Passage, South Woodford,

London, E18 1DD.

You may also email us at admin@sevenspikesrelief.org.uk.

Please address all correspondence for the attention of the Chief Executive Officer.
We are committed to providing our donors with the highest standards of legal compliance and we treat all requests for refunds with the utmost importance. We will need ask you a series of questions in order to determine the reasons for your request.
We undertake to process any request as quickly as possible. However, we recognise that this process may require advice from external agencies and response times may not be within our control and will advise you of progress as appropriate.