No whistleblower should go unheard or unprotected.

Protect are the UK’s whistleblowing experts. We give people the confidence to raise concerns safely, help employers build trusted speak-up systems, and campaign for stronger protections so wrongdoing is heard, addressed and prevented.


30+

years standing up for whistleblowers.

3,000+

people supported through our advice line each year.

UK-wide

policy work shaping safer speak-up systems.


Get confidential whistleblowing advice.

Speaking up can feel risky, especially when you are unsure who to trust, what the law protects, or what might happen next. Protect’s Advice Line gives free, confidential and expert legal advice to people with whistleblowing concerns.Our advisers help you understand your rights, think through your options and decide how best to raise your concern. Whether you are preparing to speak up, have already raised a concern, or are being treated badly because of whistleblowing, we can help you take the next step more safely.


0203 117 2520

Free, confidential whistleblowing advice from Protect’s specialist advisers.


Build a speak-up system people trust.

A strong whistleblowing system helps organisations spot risk earlier, protect people who raise concerns and respond before harm escalates. Protect works with employers to assess, strengthen and embed effective speak-up arrangements, combining independent expertise with more than 30 years of frontline whistleblowing experience.

Benchmarking

See how your speak-up system really performs.

Get an independent view of your whistleblowing arrangements, from governance and reporting routes to confidence, culture and follow-through.

Best for

Organisations that need a clear baseline, independent assurance or evidence of progress.

What it delivers

Structured scoring, gap analysis, comparative insight and practical recommendations, with deeper audit options for board-level reassurance.

Outcome

A sharper view of what is working, where risk sits and what to improve next.

Membership

Keep improving with expert support over time.

Build a longer-term relationship with Protect, so your organisation stays connected to best practice as expectations, regulation and workplace risks change.

Best for

Employers who want continuous improvement rather than one-off advice.

What it delivers

Expert guidance, practical resources, member events, peer learning, benchmarking tools and training opportunities.

Outcome

A more confident, informed and proactive approach to speaking up.

Consultancy

Get independent help with complex speak-up challenges.

Work with Protect to review, improve and strengthen your whistleblowing arrangements around your risks, structure, culture and live pressures.

Best for

Organisations facing a live concern, reviewing their framework, responding to regulatory expectations or rebuilding trust.

What it delivers

Independent review, policy and process recommendations, case-handling guidance, stakeholder briefings and a practical improvement roadmap.

Outcome

Stronger systems, clearer responsibilities and a safer experience for people who speak up.

Training

Turn policy into confident everyday practice.

Help staff, managers, leaders and specialist teams recognise concerns, respond well and protect whistleblowers from harm.

Best for

Organisations that need to build confidence, consistency and capability across teams.

What it delivers

Practical sessions shaped around real whistleblowing scenarios, legal duties, good practice and safe handling behaviours.

Outcome

People know how to speak up, how to listen and how to act safely and fairly.


Strengthening whistleblowing law.

Protect works to make whistleblowing safer not just case by case, but systematically across the legal and policy landscape. We use evidence from our Advice Line, legal expertise and employer work to show where protections are failing, then work with Parliament, government, regulators, courts and civil society to push for change.For more than 30 years, we have helped shape the UK’s whistleblowing framework and continue to campaign for stronger laws, clearer duties on employers and better accountability when concerns are ignored.


Our impact

PIDA

Helped shape UK whistleblowing law

Protect helped pave the way for the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, the UK’s landmark whistleblowing protection law.

50,000+

Whistleblowers supported

Protect has handled more than 3,589 new cases this year through people contacting the Advice Line.

240+

Built parliamentary momentum

More than 240 peers backed a Protect-drafted cross-party amendment to strengthen whistleblower protection.

£426m

Exposed the cost of silence

Protect research found that ignoring whistleblowers in just three major UK scandals cost the public purse more than £426 million.

No whistleblower should face silence alone.

Protect is the UK’s whistleblowing expert charity. We give people the confidence to raise concerns safely, help employers build trusted speak-up systems, and campaign for stronger protections so wrongdoing is heard, addressed and prevented.

30+

years standing up for whistleblowers.

3,000+

people supported through our advice line each year.

UK-wide

policy work shaping safer speak-up systems.

Complaints policy

Complaints Policy

Updated September 2025

Complaints

Every year we advise thousands of whistleblowers and support hundreds of businesses with their whistleblowing arrangements. We aim to provide you with an excellent service. However, from time to time, you may feel we got things wrong or we could do things better and when this happens, we want to know.

Advice line

If you are a whistleblower seeking advice and are not happy with the service, please tell your adviser in the first instance, and he or she will refer you to a senior member of the advice team, or to our Head of Advice Rebecca Durkin ([email protected]). If you are not happy with the response, please follow our formal complaint process below.

Business client

If you are an employer and not happy with our service, please contact our Business Development Director, Jon Cunningham ([email protected]). If you are not happy with the response, you may follow the formal complaint process below. If the issue is unresolved after making a formal complaint, our contract with you to provide training and consultancy will confirm the process for resolving any dispute. Our standard contract terms includes referral to an independent mediator/conciliator as the next step.

Donors and funders

Protect is a signatory to the Fundraising Promise and if you are concerned that we have not complied with the Code of Fundraising Practice as outlined on the Fundraising Regulator’s website, please contact our fundraiser, Chris Pethers ([email protected]) in the first instance. If you are not happy with the response, please follow our formal complaint process below.

Other parties

If you have any other concern about any aspect of our services, please follow our formal complaint process.

Formal complaint process

You can make a formal complaint by writing an email or letter to the Joint Chief Executives, Elizabeth Gardiner and Sybille Raphael ([email protected]) at our offices: Protect, The Green House, 244-254 Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9DA . If the complaint is about the Chief Executive, please address it to the Chair, Lucy McLynn, at our offices.

If you make a formal complaint, we normally aim to respond to you within 10 working days.

If you are unhappy with the response from the Chief Executive, you can write to the Chair of the Board, Lucy McLynn.

Outside bodies

As a charity, we are regulated by the Charity Commission. Our lawyers are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). If your concerns remain unresolved you may take your complaint to one of these bodies. For information on what the Charity Commission investigates see here and details about complaints to the SRA are here.

If your complaint is about the legal service you have received from our lawyers, you can also have your complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. Before accepting a complaint for investigation the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

  • No more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
  • No more than one year from the date when you should have realised that there was cause for complaint;
  • and
  • Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman please contact them: visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk or call 0300 555 0333 between 10am to 4pm or email [email protected]

If you are not satisfied with our response on a fundraising complaint, you can raise your concerns with the Fundraising Regulator through its online complaint form.