If your complaint is that a child is unsafe, or is about Eris's conduct, do not use this procedure. Go straight to the safeguarding contacts — the local authority, the LADO, the NSPCC helpline or the police. Those routes are outside the club and you do not need our permission to use them.
1. Who can complain
Any member, parent, carer, school or other professional. A member can complain themselves — a child does not need an adult to do it for them, and no child will ever be treated worse for having complained.
2. Stage 1 — tell Eris
- Email ErisTaylor@cognitocoding.com, or say it in the club chat, or on the phone — however is easiest. It does not have to be written formally, and it does not have to use the word "complaint".
- You will get an acknowledgement within 2 working days.
- You will get a full response within 10 working days. If it is going to take longer, you will be told why and given a new date.
- The response will say what was looked at, what was found, and what changes are being made.
Most things are a misunderstanding or a bug, and get fixed the same day.
3. Stage 2 — ask for a review
- If the answer does not resolve it, say so within 14 days and say what specifically is still wrong.
- The complaint is looked at again from the start, including the chat and server records.
- Response within a further 10 working days, in writing.
Be aware of the limit here: Arcadia is run by one person, so Stage 2 is the same person reviewing their own decision. That is a genuine weakness, not a formality, and it is why Stage 3 exists and is set out in full.
4. Stage 3 — outside Arcadia
You are entitled to use any of these at any point. You do not have to complete stages 1 and 2 first.
| What the complaint is about | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| A child is at risk of harm | Local authority children's social care — [to confirm: MASH number] — or the police on 101, or 999 in an emergency |
| The conduct of Eris, or any adult with access to members | LADO at the local authority — [to confirm: LADO contact]. This deliberately bypasses the club. |
| You want advice before deciding what to do | NSPCC Helpline — 0808 800 5000, help@nspcc.org.uk |
| A child wants to talk to someone independent | Childline — 0800 1111 |
| How Arcadia has handled personal data | Information Commissioner's Office — 0303 123 1113, ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint |
| Online sexual abuse or an adult contacting a child inappropriately | CEOP — ceop.police.uk/safety-centre |
| Disability discrimination | Equality Advisory and Support Service — 0808 800 0082 |
| The complaint came through a school, and the school is not satisfied | The school's own designated safeguarding lead and complaints route. We will co-operate fully with either. |
5. How complaints are recorded
- Every complaint is logged with the date, what was raised, what was done and the outcome.
- Records are kept for 3 years, or until the child's 25th birthday where the complaint forms part of a safeguarding record.
- Complaints are reviewed once a year to see whether a policy or a piece of the server needs changing. A complaint that gets fixed but changes nothing has only been half dealt with.
6. Anonymous complaints
We accept them and take them seriously. The obvious limit is that we cannot come back to you with an answer, and we may not be able to look into something we cannot ask about. If a safeguarding concern is raised anonymously, it is acted on the same way as any other.