Terms of use

These Terms of Use (together with the documents referred to in it) set out the terms on which you, the visitor, (“you” or “your”) may make use of our, [Reducing the Risk] (“us”, “our”, or “we”) website [www.hub.reducingtherisk.org.uk], whether as a guest or a registered user. Use of our website includes accessing, browsing, or registering to use our website.

Your use of our website constitutes your acceptance of these Terms of Use, in consideration of our provision to you of our website. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you must not use our website.

Other applicable terms

These Terms of Use refer to the following additional terms, which also apply to your use of our website:

our Privacy Policy, which sets out the terms on which we process any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us. By using our website, you consent to such processing and you warrant that all data provided by you is accurate; and
our Cookie Policy, which sets out information about the cookies used by us on our website.

About us

This website is operated by Reducing the Risk, a charity registered in England and Wales under charity number 1120244 and whose registered office is at 7 Canterbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6LU.

You are able to contact us in relation to our website at contact@reducingtherisk.org.uk. Further contact information can be located at the “Contact Us” page of this website.

Changes to these terms

We reserve the right to revise these Terms of Use at any time by amending this page. We shall reasonably attempt to notify you of any changes to these Terms of Use at the time of your first visit to our website following such changes being made, but in any event recommend that you check this page regularly. Any changes made shall have immediate effect upon being posted to this website, and your continuing use of our website constitutes your acceptance of such amended Terms of Use.

Changes to our website

We may update our website and/or change the content at any time. However, we do not guarantee that our website, or any content on it, will be free from errors or omissions. Any of the content on our website may be out of date at any given time, and though we are under no obligation to update it, we will do our best to make amendments as soon as possible.

Accessing our website

Our website is made available free of charge.

We do not guarantee that our website, or any content on it, will always be available or be uninterrupted. Access to our website is permitted on a temporary basis. We may suspend, withdraw, discontinue, and/or change all or any part of our website without notice. We will not be liable to you if for any reason our website is unavailable at any time or for any period.

You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to our website.

Your account and password

If you use a login email address and choose a password as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential and must not disclose it to any third party.

We have the right to disable any email address or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if 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 login password, you must promptly notify us at data@reducingtherisk.org.uk.

Please note that if you are registered with our online community, the information we share about you, with your consent, is the information you provide us with when you register. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information we hold on you. Please check its accuracy when you register, and update it when necessary as outlined in the Privacy Policy. We are not able to double-check it and cannot take responsibility if it is not correct.

Purpose and aim of the Reducing the Risk Hub

This website (www.hub.reducingtherisk.org.uk) has been developed to meet a range of needs and requirements of Reducing the Risk. The primary aim is to provide an online community platform for Domestic Abuse Champions, both trained and waiting for training, to collaborate and network and share learning, expertise and knowledge. To use this platform, these individuals (Users) are required to have a registered and authorised account.

The objectives of the platform are to enable Users to:

increase safety and empowerment of adults and children affected by domestic abuse;
participate in partnership work to do this;
increase knowledge and understanding of domestic abuse including staying up to date with current and relevant information.

The platform is used by a range of professionals whose role may not specifically or solely be a Domestic Abuse Champion (whether trained or wanting to attend training). These Users are:

DA Coordinators for Local Authorities
Reducing the Risk staff and volunteers
Reducing the Risk Trustees
Professionals who have attended Reducing the Risk Online Training

Reducing the Risk uses the website for some additional purposes such as event management, document, resources and news sharing, managing fundraising and sending our e-bulletin.

The website allows registered Users to search for and view other professionals' contact and role information, as per our Champions Network requirements. This is conducted as a mutual agreement between Champions, and Users can manage their profile sharing and messaging permission settings.

The safety and privacy of those using the platform is our priority, and in order to protect and support those in our Network, Reducing the Risk ensures the following:

Reducing the Risk staff Administrators (hereby referred to as ‘Admins’) review all Users before approving them to join the site;
Admins will regularly review the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy in line with feedback, use of the platform, and UK guidelines and legislation;
Admins will request, collate and review feedback from Users regarding their use of the platform and any suggestions for improvements or amendments;
Users are expected to raise with Admins any improper use of the site and cases in which the guidelines have been breached;
Admins made aware of any improper use or breach of guidelines whether directly or indirectly will first speak to the user concerned to decide the best course of action. All disclosures or concerns about improper use will be kept anonymous.

Users are expected to adhere to the following guidelines both through communications within the platform and in communications outside of the platform where the contact information has been obtained from the platform. If you have any concerns or questions please email contact@reducingtherisk.org.uk.

Guidelines for use

Remain professional, kind and respectful towards other Users.
Do not share on the platform any identifying information regarding clients, cases or service users including victims, perpetrators, and their children, friends or family.
Do not engage in any bullying, stalking and harassment. Any Users doing this will instantly be removed from the platform and the DA Champion Network.
Do not send any inappropriate messages or images including sexually explicit content, hate crime, or graphic or upsetting content. Any Users doing this will instantly be removed from the platform and the DA Champion Network.
Avoid engaging in any harmful, judgemental, or hurtful discussion regarding clients/cases/service users or other practitioners including gossip or rumour-spreading.
Adhere to confidentiality and do not share any personal details or information about other Users or their cases outside of the platform.
Engage in healthy debate, discussion and problem-solving.
Do not use any hateful, inflammatory or discriminatory language.
Ensure any communications and content shared are in line with the aims and objectives of the platform. For example, despite the support available from other Users, it is not appropriate to share if you are struggling with your mental health or are experiencing suicidal feelings. If this is the case, instead please utilise your support network, contact your GP, or contact Samaritans (https://www.samaritans.org/) or SupportLine (https://www.supportline.org.uk/).
Abuse of any kind will not be tolerated.

This platform is restricted to and associated with the above purposes. Any individuals using it for purposes outside of this agreement will be removed from the platform, and the broader Champion Network.

Intellectual property rights

This website and all content, including any resources, training materials, software, code, designs, graphics, and/or other materials contained on or pertaining to this website are owned by or licensed to us and are protected by copyright, trade marks, patents, and/or other proprietary or intellectual property rights and/or laws (the “IP”). All of our rights pertaining to our IP (including any moral authorship or otherwise) are reserved. You are not permitted to use any of our IP except for as provided in these Terms of Use (or as otherwise specified on this website).

You may print off, and/or download any page(s) from our website for your professional use, and we kindly ask you do not share content with people who are not members of the site without our express consent. You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way, and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences, and/or any graphics provided on our website separately from any accompanying text.

Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of content on our website must always be acknowledged, and you must not remove any copyright or trade mark notices from any copies of the content of this website without our prior written consent. You must not use any part of the content on our website for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors (as applicable).

If you print off, copy or download any part of our website in breach of these Terms of Use, your right to use our website will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made. You are responsible at all times for complying with these Terms of Use and any applicable intellectual property laws which apply to our website.

No reliance on information

The content on our website is designed for generic day-to-day guidance. Every case and person is different though so we cannot provide bespoke and total guidance every time.

Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on our website, we make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on our website is accurate, complete, or up-to-date.

Limitation of liability

Nothing in these Terms of Use excludes or limits our liability for:

death or personal injury arising from our negligence;
fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by applicable law.

To the extent permitted by law, we exclude all conditions, warranties, representations, and/or other terms which may apply to our website or any content on it, whether express or implied (including any warranties with respect to availability, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or otherwise).

We will not be liable to any user or any other person for any loss or damage (including any direct, indirect, incidental, and/or consequential losses), whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, arising under or in connection with the:

use of, or inability to use, our website (or any part of our website); and/or
use of or reliance on any content displayed on our website,

whether or not we have been advised of the possibility of such claims and/or losses in advance, and even if such claim or loss is foreseeable.

We only provide our website for professional use, and you agree not to use our website for any commercial or business purposes without obtaining our prior written consent.

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

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 shall not be liable to you for any breach of these Terms of Use or any failure or delay in providing to you our services through this website.

Uploading content to our website

Any content you upload to our website will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary, and we have the right to use, copy, distribute, and/or disclose to third parties any such content for any purpose. We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any content posted or uploaded by you to our website constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights, or of their right to privacy.

You shall ensure that: (i) any content which you upload to, or post on, our website shall not be illegal, defamatory, or offensive; and (ii) that you have at the time of posting and shall maintain all relevant proprietary and intellectual property rights in the content which you are uploading or posting. You shall additionally ensure that you comply with our forum rules, as may be posted on our website from time to time, at all times when posting or uploading content to our website.

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 for any reason, including where, in our opinion, your post is obscene, offensive, and/or infringes on third party intellectual property rights.

The views expressed by other Users on our website do not necessarily represent our views or values.

Viruses

We do not guarantee that our website will be secure or free from bugs or viruses. You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform in order to access our website. 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, and/or 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 (DOS) attack or a distributed denial-of service (DDOS) attack. By breaching this provision, you may commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, and we will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and 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.

Linking to our website

You may share the link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it. Our website must not be framed on any other website, nor may you create a link to any part of our website other than the home page.

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. You must not establish a link to our website in any website that is not owned by you. We reserve the right to withdraw 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 using the details set out in the “About Us” section of these Terms of Use.

Third party links and resources in our website

Where our website contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. We have no control over the contents of those websites or resources. The following of any link to an external website is entirely at your own risk, and we shall not be liable for the content of such websites (see the “Limitation of Liability” section of these Terms of Use).

To the extent that this website or any content on this website is published or hosted by a third party, such a third party shall not be responsible for the accuracy of such.

Severance

In the event that any part of these Terms of Use is held to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable by a competent body, it shall not affect the validity, legality, or enforceability of any other remaining terms within these Terms of Use.

Waiver

If we do not enforce any right conferred to us under these Terms of Use, such non-enforcement shall not constitute a waiver of that right.

Applicable law and jurisdiction

These Terms of Use (including their formation), your use of this website, and the contents of this website shall be governed by and construed in accordance with The Charity Commission.

----------------------------------------

This Policy was last updated in February 2021.