Terms and Conditions

Website and The Community – registering and contributions

Registering for an Account

The Community section of our Website allows you to submit details of your experiences for display, indexing and feedback from other registered members.

If you choose to register for an account with our Website then if you select, or you are given, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our registration or security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential. You must not disclose it to any third party.

To avoid confusion with Spokz People cic workers, The Community members cannot use in their user name or profiles any the following: the words admin, moderator, therapist or staff, the word SP or Spokz or Spokz People or use the Spokz People logo or brand in their profiles.

We have the right to inactivate any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time (and so remove your ability to post in The Community) at our discretion, including, without limitation, in circumstances where, in our reasonable opinion, you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these Terms of Use.

If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your user identification code or password, you must promptly reset your password to something which only you know.

Please see the Privacy Policy below for more information regarding use of personal data relating to you.

You must only use the Website for lawful purposes and you must not infringe the rights of other users of this site or prevent their enjoyment of it.

If you are under the age of 18 then unfortunately you are unable to register for an account with our Website.

Ground Rules for Use of The Community: the forum, group chat, one-to-one chat and interactions in Live Events.

Welcome to Spokz People’s community! Our mission is for this to be a safe space to discuss anything related to mental health and wellbeing.  We want everyone to be part of our community and have their voice heard. We encourage your feedback and aim to respond to your comments as soon as possible. While we do moderate this community, we welcome open discussion. To help you understand how to act and to help you understand what to expect from others, we ask you to agree to keep the following in mind:

1. Adults only. This community is only for individuals aged 18+.
2. Please note that all contributions must be in English (so that we can effectively moderate content).
3. Respect each other & offensive language: This is a space where you can share and be open about things you may not be able to elsewhere. We all have had different life experiences and may have a different perspective to yours. We welcome different viewpoints that are constructive, respectful and polite. Here’s a note about things we do not allow – please also see the note below on offensive language:
   1. Defamatory, indecent, offensive, profane, discriminatory, misleading, unlawful or threatening comments or those incite violence.
   2. Personal attacks, name-calling, trolling and abuse.
   3. NO SHOUTING — posting all in CAPITALS is considered the equivalent of ‘shouting’. Resist all temptation to use them, for there is a chance your post will be deleted.
   4. Posting the same topic in multiple places. Choose the most appropriate place for your question.
   5. Repeatedly contacting the same member if they are not responding.
4. Respect confidentiality: You agree not to share private information about other members with people outside this community or to share other members’ personal information whilst using the community.
5. Be safe: Our community is a public place. Don’t post personal information that you would not be comfortable sharing with a stranger. We recommend that you don’t post any information that may identify you or anyone else, such as your address, email address or phone number. Be aware that it is impossible for us to check out if someone is who they say they are. If you want to make contact a member in person, please go off-site.
6. With regards member posts in The Community, you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately.
7. Sex: It is okay to discuss sex and relationships, but it is not okay to post sexual or nude images or to sexually harass another member. If you wish to pursue intimate relationships with a member, please take this off-site.
8. Linking: it is okay to suggest other products and services while using the community as long as you are not blatantly promoting your own. Please ask admin for prior consent if you would like to promote your own product or service. Spamming, posting promotional material or posting links to third party websites is not permitted.
9. Copyright or intellectual property: it is OK to mention other authors and resources, but be aware of not plagiarising their work. If it is publicly available it is generally OK to post.
10. Our rights: We reserve the right to delete comments at our discretion. You acknowledge that we may remove posts and/or close threads where we consider that they have gone ‘off-topic’, become unconstructive, are contentious as between users and/or are not within the spirit of the Discussion Forums: this may include contributions which are not in breach of these Terms of Use. We will remove content that is fraudulent, deceptive or misleading. Any contribution you make must comply with the standards set out above, and you will be liable to us and be responsible for any loss or damage we suffer as a result of your breach of this representation.
11. Admin – you must not ‘defriend’ admin or SP staff or your account will be terminated.
12. All posts express the views and opinions of the author. The views expressed by other users in The Community do not (necessarily) represent our views or values.

Note on offensive language:

If you would like a copy of the current offensive words and expressions to avoid and alternatives to use, email info@spokzpeople.org.uk.

It is Spokz People’s policy to avoid swearing/potentially offensive language during our live meets, unless it is a special meeting that we call a ‘Swearing session’ or ‘X-rated’. This is our policy for many reasons: because of different members’ faiths, religions, cultural, ethical and moral viewpoints as well as trauma members may have experienced in the past around offensive language. However, we all know that what one person finds offensive, others may not, and it is very hard to specify and agree on what is considered offensive. We also know that for many, swearing is a way to let off steam and express and manage anger.

We also need to be aware that some of our members struggle with swearing because they are neurodiverse, have Tourette’s Syndrome, cognitive issues caused by stroke or brain injury or because of struggling to know what might be considered a swear word. We value ALL our members with all our differences and kindly ask that all members be tolerant of these situations where a member is struggling not to swear. We also ask other members to monitor their swearing in order to help support those who find this difficult.

As group facilitators, it is our job to try and keep the group safe for everyone who attends and that also means to assist members who struggle with swearing to find a different way to express themselves. But we are all human and slip ups can and do happen, even for facilitators. You can always email Mel or Kim with any questions or concerns you have in our live meets, or if you feel you need any support regarding understanding or following the guidelines. If you have any concerns about another member’s content, please contact us on info@spokzpeople.org.uk

Access to your messages

Similar to administrators of other websites, Spokz People have access to messages sent between members, whether that occurs on the forum, 1-2-1 email, or 1-2-1 instant chat. Please be aware we take confidentiality and privacy very seriously at Spokz People as we recognise this is something disabled people often struggle to access. We do not as standard read your messages, but store them should any issues regarding someone’s safety or harmful behaviour occur.

Spokz People c.i.c. Suicide Policy

What are suicidal thoughts? Thinking about suicide means you are thinking of no longer living. We recognise that for many disabled people, the thought of suicide can result from living in very challenging situations, difficult emotions, trauma, declining health or chronic physical pain. It is completely normal and OK for anyone to have these thoughts from time to time: it may give hope that there is a way out of your situation when you can no longer manage it. This is called passive suicidal thoughts and you may have thoughts like “I just want the pain to stop” or “I wish I could just disappear”. For others there are ongoing thoughts or active plans to end their lives: this is called active suicidal thoughts. You may have thoughts like “I have made a plan..” or “I could end my life by doing…”

What will Spokz People do if I disclose suicidal thoughts?

If you disclose suicidal thoughts, or select anything other than ‘not at all’ on our wellbeing questionnaire, we will in the first instance just touch base with you and offer our support and see if we can provide you with or signpost you to additional resources. We also have several sessions a year where we offer a safe space to discuss suicidal thoughts. Most of the time, whatever you tell us stays between us (confidential).  We can help you put together a safety plan, which we recommend you share with your GP. The safety plan can include helplines such as the Samaritans, your nearest A&E as well as people who can be contacted in an emergency. It can also include toolkits of people, things, activities etc. that can help you manage suicidal thoughts.

However, you should know, that legally, if a member discloses that they are actively planning suicide, we, as a service, have to break confidentiality and make contact with a third party. 

As an online organisation, we are limited by the personal and identifying information you have disclosed during registration or thereafter in conversations, both on our forums and verbally in live events (e.g., your place of work or study). Practically, the only people we can contact are the police through 999. They can, but only with a court order, access your computer IP address and the location of your phone. They can access your address through us because you pay for a membership through a card registered to your address.

What relevant information does Spokz People hold? Knowing that you can decide what information you choose to share with us is important. Even if you have told us this information, it does not mean we will automatically tell someone else. Generally, the personal information we have comes from your registration form:

• Your name
• Your date of birth
• Your phone number
• Your email
• We use Stripe as our payment gateway and they hold your address as this is connected to your payment card. Sometimes this is a partial address, other times your whole address including postcode.

We always want to help you explore your feelings about your situation and to help you make the decisions that are right for you. If we need to break confidentiality, we will always endeavour to inform you of this first and try to reach a mutual agreement about a way forward.

Where can I get support? Please visit our emergency support section for links to resources, help lines and ideas on how to manage suicidal thoughts.

Suspension and termination of Community access

We will determine, in our discretion, whether there has been a breach of our Terms of Use (or of our stated aims and goals) through your use of our Website. When a breach of these terms has (in our view) occurred, or where we otherwise deem it necessary, then we may take such action as we deem appropriate, which may include our taking any or all of the following actions:

• Immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use our Website (including The Community).
• Immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any posting or material uploaded by you to our Website (including The Community).
• Issuing a warning to you.
• Taking legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach.
• Taking further legal action against you.
• Disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary.

We exclude liability for actions taken in response to breaches of this acceptable use policy. The responses described in this policy are examples, and we may take such other actions as we may reasonably deem appropriate.

Refunds

We understand that sometimes we sign up to things we then don’t make use of or that life happens like hospital stays or illness. As a non profit we would like to offer excellent customer service to our disabled members, so if for some reason you are unable to make use of the site, you can contact us to arrange a refund. We will refund you pro rata, this means that we will refund however much of the year remains minus our Stripe payment fees (maximum £8) which we do not get returned when we refund. For example, if you have used our services for 3 months, we will refund the remaining 9 months minus the Stripe payment gateway fee.

You can also request a partial refund if you would like to continue to make use of the community (forum, chat and live events), but don’t have the ability to complete the programme.

Contributions to our Website

Any contribution to this Website which you submit, including via the Community (including any text, photographs, graphics, video or audio), will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. You retain all such ownership rights in your content as you may hold, but in submitting such content to the Website you grant us a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, right to store, modify (where reasonably necessary to allow publication), copy and publish the contribution on the Website and to make it available to third parties. If you wish to keep your content confidential or do not want to grant us these rights, then please do not submit your contribution to the Community.

Furthermore, by submitting your contribution to the Website, you warrant that you have the right to make it available to us for all the purposes specified above; it is not defamatory; it does not infringe any law or third party rights; that it has not been copied from any third party and you will be required to reimburse us in respect of all legal fees, damages and other expenses that we may incur as a result of your breach of the above warranty.

We have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any content posted or uploaded by you to our site constitutes a violation of their rights (including, without limitation, their intellectual property rights or right to privacy).

We will not be responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any content posted by you (or any other user of our Website).

We have the right to remove any posting you make on our Website if, in our opinion, your post does not comply with the content standards, or any term, set out in these Terms of Use.

Third Party Links and Resources in our Website

The Website may contain links to other websites and resources operated by third parties. These links are provided for reference and information purposes only. We do not control such websites or resources and are not responsible for their availability or content.

Our inclusion of links to such websites does not imply any endorsement of the material on such websites or any association with their operators. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources.

Mailchimp email & Contact with you

Mailchimp – We use Mailchimp to send out emails to our members. When you register an account with us, you automatically opt in to receive our updates through Mailchimp. When you receive your welcome email, you will also receive an email from Mailchimp asking you to confirm signing up with them. You can opt out by not clicking this confirmation email, but will then not be informed of any future live member events. We may email you to make sure you are actively opting out instead of not having seen the Mailchimp Confirmation email (it went into your junk mail for example).

Contact – by signing up to our platform, you also agree to us contacting you via phone, email or post. This may be for membership or other practical queries. However, we also acknowledge that living with disability is at times tough and there may be times when we become aware that members are long-term sick, hospitalised or similarly unable to access our support. In these instances, we would like to support the member by sending a card/e-card/email to support them through this tough time.

 

Research

By completing the wellbeing questionnaire at the start of the programme and at intervals, you consent to us storing the results of these anonymously for the purposes of research and applying for funding (to evidence our community improves wellbeing).

From time to time there may also be an opportunity to get involved with research (which may be generally available to anyone using the Website or which may be offered to you directly).

If you are invited to take part in a research (and if you choose to do so) then you may be asked to respond to various questions and/or submit various pieces of information depending on the nature of the relevant research project. The precise details of each research opportunity will vary and you will be provided with the relevant information and any additional or project specific terms at the relevant time.

Linking to our Website

You may link to our Website, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it.

You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists. Our Website must not be framed on any other site.

We reserve the right to withdraw or limit this linking permission without notice.

If you wish to make any use of content on our Website other than that set out above, please contact us at info@spokzpeople.org.uk.

LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY

Please read this section carefully as it sets out the limits of our liability to you in relation to your use of the Website.

Nothing in these Terms of Use excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, or for our fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by English law.

To the extent permitted by law, we exclude all conditions, warranties, representations or other terms which may apply to our Website or any content on it, whether express or implied. The Website is provided on an ‘as is’ basis.

Please note that we only provide our Website for domestic and private use (and as a reference tool for use by healthcare professionals). You agree not to use our site for any commercial or business purposes, and we have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.

We assume no responsibility for the content of websites linked on our Website. Such links should not be interpreted as endorsement by us of those linked websites. We will not be liable for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.

We use our reasonable efforts to check the accuracy of the professional information published on our Website. You should, however, note that we do not warrant that such information will be error free and you acknowledge that the information, products, and services published on this Website may include inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information set out in our Website.

We (and/or our suppliers) make no representations about the suitability of the information, products, and services contained on this Website for any purpose.

Subject to the first paragraph under this section (Limitations of Liability), in no event shall we (or any of our suppliers or licensors) be liable to you (or to any other user) for any indirect, incidental, special, and/or consequential loss or damage, whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence or breach of statutory duty), or otherwise, even if we, or any of our suppliers, have been advised of the possibility of such damages, arising under or in connection with:

• use of, or inability to use, our Website;
• use of or reliance on any content displayed on our Website (regardless of the origins of such content); and/or
• any information, products, and services obtained through this Website, or otherwise arising out of the use of this Website.

Subject to the first paragraph under this section (Limitations of Liability), our liability (and that of our suppliers or licensors) for any losses suffered arising out of, or in connection with, your use of this Website, whether in contract, tort (including negligence or breach of statutory duty), or otherwise is limited to the greater of: (i) the total value of the relevant transaction (if any) under which the claim arises for any one event or series of connected events, or (ii) the sum of two hundred pounds (£200).

We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a virus, distributed denial-of-service attack, or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to your use of our Website or to your downloading of any content on it, or on any website linked to it.

This section does not affect any legal rights you may have as a consumer.

You acknowledge that we have made the Website available to you in reliance upon these Terms of Use and in particular these Limitations of Liability.

Breach of these Terms of Use

If you fail to follow these Terms of Use when using this Website, you may be sent an e-mail in respect of any such failure. If your failure relates to any contribution or submission to our Website then any such email may inform you as to why your contribution to the Website has been rejected or edited. This mail may also include a warning that continuing to break the rules may result in action being taken against your account(s).

If you are held to be in breach of any of these Terms of Use then your account(s) may be placed into pre-moderation (meaning that all your contributions will be subject to prior review by a moderator) or we may temporarily or permanently suspend your ability to log on to the Website.

If you post or send offensive or inappropriate content to, or via, this Website or otherwise engage in any disruptive behaviour on the Website, and We consider such behaviour to be serious and/or repeated, then We may use whatever information we have available to us about you to prevent any further such incidents from arising. This may include informing relevant third parties such as your employer, school or email service provider and/or the authorities regarding any such incident(s).

We reserve the right to delete any contribution, or take action against any account, at any time, for any reason.

Collection of Personal Data

If you register to use the Website, or any service(s) accessible through the Website, then we may collect personal data from you (including, without limitation, your name, nickname, age, medical conditions and a valid email address). This data will be securely held in accordance with the terms of our Privacy Policy.

If any third parties are involved in the delivery or operation of any services that you may choose to receive then this will be detailed in the information and terms provided to you at the relevant time.

Viruses

We do not guarantee that our Website will be secure or free from bugs or viruses and you should use your own, up-to-date, virus protection software.

You must not misuse our Website by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or any other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to our Website, the server on which our Website is stored or any server, computer or database connected to our Website. You must not attack our Website via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you may be committing a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use our Website will cease immediately.

Choice of Law and Jurisdiction

Please note that these Terms of Use, and the agreement which exists between us under the Terms of Use, its subject matter and its formation, are governed by English law. You and we both agree that the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction (save that if you are a resident of Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings in Northern Ireland, and if you are resident of Scotland, you may also bring proceedings in Scotland) over any disputes or claims which might arise.

If you are accessing this Website from outside of the United Kingdom then: (i) we make no representations that the content of this Website will be suitable for your requirements or that it is permissible or legal for you to access the same; and (ii) your use of the Website is entirely at your own risk and you are responsible for ensuring that you act in accordance with any applicable laws.

Use of this Website is unauthorised in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of these Terms of Use, including, without limitation, this paragraph.

Complaints Procedure

Our commitment to members is to ensure that:

• Making a complaint is as easy as possible
• We treat your complaint seriously
• We deal with your complaint promptly and in confidence
• We learn from complaints and use them to review and improve our service

What is a complaint?

A complaint is when you tell us you are not happy about the service we provide. It can be about anything and could include:

• When we give you the wrong information
• When you receive a poor quality service
• When you have a problem with a member of staff

If you would like to make a complaint, you can email the Clinical Director on mel@spokzpeople.org.uk with an explanation of the issue and ideally what you would like to be done to resolve the issue. We will then send an acknowledgement by return. The Clinical Director will be the first reviewer of each complaint, unless they are the subject of the complaint, in which case a director on the Board will be the first reviewer. All correspondence about complaints will be treated as confidential. When the first reviewer has considered the detail of the complaint, the person raising the complaint will receive a written response detailing any proposed remedial action.  This will be done within 14 days of the receipt of the original complaint.  If this is not possible, the Clinical Director will explain this in writing within the 14 days. The person raising the complaint will also be told in this response how the complaint can be progressed beyond this stage. The complainant can request that the complaint be reviewed by the Board if they are unhappy with the first reviewer’s decision. Email theboard@spokzpeople.org.uk.

Further progressing of a complaint beyond the second review will depend on the nature of the matter.  Alternative routes include the police, trading standards, the Ombudsman or health and safety within a local authority and a funding body if the service being complained about was funded directly by such a body.  The response will explain all relevant options.

If at any stage the service user making the complaint wants to stop a complaint from being progressed, the service user can do so in writing or email to the Clinical Director. Spokz People c.i.c. reserves the right to continue to investigate serious complaints in these circumstances.

Results of Complaints

The Board of Directors will receive a report at least once a year showing how many complaints have been received, the general nature of the problem and a list of remedial actions that have been taken.  The Board of Directors may, at their discretion, require more frequent reports.  A summary statement will be included on Spokz People c.i.c.’s web site at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

Continuous Improvement

Spokz People c.i.c. strives to be a learning organisation and will further develop quality improvement procedures, which will include information received from this process.  Spokz People c.i.c. would appreciate feedback from complainants about their experience of Spokz People c.i.c.’s complaints procedure and may use this to improve the way complaints are managed in the future.

General

We reserve the right to change these Terms of Use (and any other terms, conditions, and notices) under which this Website is offered.

If any part of these Terms of Use is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations above, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of the agreement shall continue in effect.

We reserve the right to freely assign, or otherwise transfer, any of our rights or obligations under these Terms of Use to any third party at our discretion.

Any provision of these Terms of Use that expressly or by implication is intended to come into, or continue in, force on or after termination of your right to use the Website shall remain in full force and effect, including, any licences granted by you in respect of any uploaded content and the provisions of the section titled Limitations of Liability.

We will not be in breach of any of our obligations under these Terms of Use (or otherwise liable for any failure or delay in performance) if we are prevented, hindered or delayed in, or from, performing any of our obligations by any event beyond our reasonable control. The time for performance of such obligations shall be extended accordingly.

Subject to any specific terms detailed on the Website in relation to particular features or materials, these Terms of Use (together with the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy) set out the entire agreement between you and us in respect of your use of the Website.

No failure or delay by us to exercise any right or remedy provided under these Terms of Use or by law shall constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor shall it prevent or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy. No single or partial exercise of such right or remedy shall prevent or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy.

Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.

Contact Us

To contact us, please email info@spokzpeople.org.uk or call 01543 899317