WHAT WOULD YOU DO? help needed asap

[saintsue]

Afternoon everyone
well i have been running a mother and toddlers group at our children centre for FREE for the last 12 months with my friend helping me. for 2 mornings a week. well on friday my friend fell out with a member of staff thereand today when we went my friend was told she can't go to the children's centre anymore.
So i just feel like telling them i wont be running it anymore cos of the way they have treated her,
What would you do?
luv sue xxxx

[Mouse]

I would arrange a meeting with them asap to try to clear the air & sort it out. I'd want to know what their policy is on banning people from the centre and what exactly it is your friend has done wrong. I assume they have some sort of policy that says if peolpe are aggressive, rude etc, they can be banned. I'm not saying your friend was either of those, just that you need to find out on what grounds she was banned. They also need to let her put her point across.

If you can't come to an agreement with them, I'd call it a day and let them run their own group.

[Rain or Shine]

Thats ridiculous, people always let the power go to their heads.

Not sure what i'd do. How can they ban your friend from being at the childrens centre due to a fall out with a staff member. Surely they need a better reason than that?

Does your friend not being there effect the how your group is run? Surely tey can't cause the group to stop due to a petty fall out, what kind of message does that send out to people.

[saintsue]

I could still run the group but i dont really think its far on my friend
we have been friends for 15 years and would feel awfull on her if i was to keep going.

All that happened was last friday my friend was late coming to group and by the time she got there the group was full so all my friend ask was could she come and speak to me for 5 mins and the girl said no so they had a fall out about that, and i have tried to speak to them today, and when my friend came today she was told she was.nt allowed to come anymore.
so i think it would be awfull for me to carry on doing the group when she cant come, she has been with me since the first group i did.

SO WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
LUVSUE XXX

[Rain or Shine]

I dunno what i would do, seems daft and a complete shame for the chldren to have to move out. Is there anyone higher you can explain this too? Just seems bizzare she is barred for that reason!

[catminder]

I suppose you have to use your own judgement to decide whether you think your friend did anything so wrong that she should be banned. If you don't agree that the ban is justified then maybe you could show your friend support by explaining to the staff that you disagree with their decision and you won't be running any more free sessions.

It's always good to stand by your friends if possible and I'm sure she'd appreciate the support :thumbsup:

[ChocolateChip]

It all sounds a bit strange, I have to say.
Is it a case of the girl (I'm assuming she's staff) being miffed at having to step in because your friend was late, if so it's a poor job if they can't give someone whose running one of their groups for free a bit of slack. And what reason is that to ban someone?
Has your friend spoken to you about it?
Did you hear what happened?
Could it be that she swore at her or something? (not trying to blacken your friends name, just trying to sort out why the reaction)

Tbh I don't think the centre would discuss with you officiallly would they, as it involves another person? Is there anyone that works there that you get on with and could have a word with to find out exactly what happened?

Having read that you wouldn't feel right running the group without your friend anyway, I would probably go with instinct and tell them you are leaving anyway, if they can't support their volunteers you are probably better off out of it, and whatever the problem was it also sounds like the staff member didn't deal with it very professionally either :(

[miffy]

I would arrange a meeting with them asap to try to clear the air & sort it out. I'd want to know what their policy is on banning people from the centre and what exactly it is your friend has done wrong. I assume they have some sort of policy that says if peolpe are aggressive, rude etc, they can be banned. I'm not saying your friend was either of those, just that you need to find out on what grounds she was banned. They also need to let her put her point across.

If you can't come to an agreement with them, I'd call it a day and let them run their own group.

I agree with Mouse - ask for a meeting and try and sort it out.

If they still ban your friend then I would write the manager a letter of complaint.

If I felt my friend had been unfairly treated then I would not carry on with the group.

Miffy xx

[candylove13]

I agree, I would speak to the person in charge regarding it and see what the response is. It maybe just the girl who has "banned" her, there are plenty of jobworths out there. Something along the lines of "Is xxxxxx banned, only she was told she couldn't come in last week, that can't be right. Can it?"

If I didn't get any joy from the informal chat, I would get my friend to make an official complaint concerning the matter and hospitatlity (sp) from the centres staff.

As said before I don't know if your friend swore or was agressive. Even so, I think most people would accept an apology and be professional. Unless your friend is likely to smash the centre up :laughing:

In your shoes, if the matter was unresolved I would quit the group. I would feel really bad for my friend and annoyed with the centre, which is not worth all the hard work you put in for free!

[Chimps Childminding]

I also agree with the other posters. I would try and smooth things over, but failing that I wouldn't risk losing a friend of 15 years and would tell the Childrens Centre I would no longer be attending either!!

[love381]

Something similar happened to a friend of mine over something so little. The lady working on the reception bit had said the room was full so she couldn't go in, so my friend said she would stand at the door. The lady seemed to be being unreasonable for some reason and was saying things like my friend standing in the doorway would be a fire risk!? They had a meeting like others have said and it turned out the lady on the reception had already turned away two grumpy parents from the group as the group was full and the parents had been really grumpy to her and maybe even a bit rude, so she'd basically taken it out on my friend. They obviously allowed my friend to go back and there was even a letter of apology from the lady on reception. She still works on the reception (or last time I went she did), but she doesn't seem to work on their in busy times anymore?!

I hope you get this sorted out for you and your friend. I think a meeting is probably the best way forward, but, like others have said, I don't think they'll discuss things with you about your friend. It'd be worth having a meeting with both you and your friend etc.

x