Whistleblowing procedure

Making a whistleblowing report

Is my concern whistleblowing?

Whistleblowing is a way to raise concerns about particularly serious issues. You can find out what makes something whistleblowing in our speaking up policy.

Find out the other ways you can raise concerns, by choosing the action you’d like to take from these options.

Making a report

If you decide that a whistleblowing report is the most appropriate way to share your concerns, get in touch with HQ in 1 of the following ways:

• Email [email protected]. This inbox is monitored by the head of safety, safeguarding and wellbeing, and the complaints and compliance manager.
• Send a letter to Girlguiding HQ, 17-19 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 0PT.
• Email our head of human resources on [email protected] to make a report about a member of staff at Girlguiding HQ. If a report is made about a member of staff, the investigation process may differ slightly from what is on this page. But your concerns will be treated with the same sensitivity and will only be shared with those who need to know.
• Email the chief executive on [email protected] to report any concern about the HR team or senior HQ staff.

We know that sometimes it can be hard to put concerns into writing. If you don’t feel comfortable or confident doing this, you can send an email to [email protected] asking for a call back and someone will get in touch.

For anyone under 18, we recommend you speak to your parent, carer or another trusted adult, so they can support you with letting us know about your concern.

Making a report to an external body

If you don’t feel able to report your concerns to Girlguiding HQ, you can make a report to an external body. Check the policy to find out more.

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What to include in your report

The more information you can give, the easier it will be for us to look into your concerns. Where possible, try to include:

• Your name and Girlguiding role.
• Your contact details, for example a phone number or email address.
• Who or what you’re making a report about, including the names of the people involved.
• Where and when the events of the report happened.
• Who else is aware of the issue.
• Any action you or someone else have taken to address the issue, for example, contacting your commissioner, the complaints team at HQ, or an external organisation.
• The impact the concern has or may have on Girlguiding.

You don’t have to give your name or role if you don’t want to. However, we encourage you to do so, as it makes it easier to look into your concern.

We’ll also need your phone number or email address so we can contact you again. If you decide not to give us contact details, we’ll still try to look into your concerns. But we won’t be able to update you on our progress. It may also make it more difficult to investigate the issue.

You should also let us know if you give us permission to reveal your identity to Girlguiding’s chief executive and directors. If you’re concerned that our chief executive or a director may be involved in the issues, make sure to let us know

What happens next?

We’ll let you know we’ve received your message within 5 working days. We’ll also give you a reference number you can use when you contact us about your concern. This’ll help keep it confidential as you won’t need to explain the concern again each time you get in touch.

We’ll review your concerns and might ask you for more information or clarification. . We’ll let you know if we think your concern can be dealt with in line with one of our other policies, for example complaints or safeguarding.

Once we’ve confirmed we’re treating your concern as whistleblowing, we’ll send a report about it to our chief executive and directors. We’ll restrict access to this report, and treat the information you give us sensitively.

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The investigation process

Once our chief executive and directors know about your concerns, we’ll choose an independent person to carry out an investigation. This could be a local commissioner, an experienced member from a different region, or a member of staff at HQ or within your country or region. Our chief executive and directors will confirm that the investigator is impartial before they start work.

The investigation will follow the steps in our investigation procedure. If you made an anonymous report or didn’t agree to share your identity with the investigator, they won’t be able to speak with you. But they’ll review the information you’ve given.

After the investigation

The investigator will write a report explaining their findings. They’ll say whether they think the concern is upheld or not. Our chief executive and directors will review this report.

We’ll send you a letter explaining the outcome of the investigation. Confidentiality may sometimes mean we can’t give you specific details about the investigation or any disciplinary action we’ve taken as a result. We understand this may be frustrating. You may be concerned about whether we’ve actually done anything. If this happens, we’ll do our best to explain why we’re acting in this way.

We won’t take any action against you if our investigator doesn’t uphold your concern, as long as the concern wasn't raised maliciously. We’ll do everything possible to make sure you aren’t treated negatively.

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What if I’m not satisfied with the process or outcome?

We’ll address your concerns fairly. But we can’t guarantee the outcome of our investigation will be the one you want.

If you’re not happy with how we’ve handled your concern, you can ask for an appeal in line with our appeals procedure. The chief guide or a trustee will review how we’ve handled your concern and decide if we’ll grant an appeal. If you believe we haven’t investigated your concerns appropriately, you can also raise your concerns with an external body, as explained in the speaking up policy.

Change log

• October 2025 – new version published.

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