Content & Safeguarding Policy

Community Connect invites people, community groups and charities to submit content, and some of what we carry is aimed at children, families and young people. This policy explains what we will and will not publish, how we moderate submissions, and how we approach safeguarding. It sits alongside our Terms of Use and Submission Terms.

Everything is checked first

Nothing submitted appears on the site until a moderator has reviewed it. We may publish it, edit it for clarity or accuracy, ask the submitter for more information, or decline it. We can also remove content later. We are not obliged to publish anything, and decisions are made at our discretion using this policy.

What we welcome

• genuine local events, groups, activities and services;
• charities, community organisations and the support they offer;
• local stories and history, shared with permission;
• accurate, useful information relevant to a neighbourhood and the people who live there.

What we will not publish

• anything unlawful, or that encourages or facilitates unlawful activity;
• content that is abusive, threatening, harassing, hateful or discriminatory towards any person or group;
• defamatory, deliberately false or seriously misleading material;
• sexual, violent, or otherwise adult or distressing content;
• content that infringes copyright or other rights (see the Submission Terms);
• other people’s personal information shared without a proper basis;
• spam, scams, or purely commercial advertising unrelated to the local community.

Children and young people

Content aimed at, or involving, children and young people is held to a higher standard. In particular:

• we will not publish anything that could put a child or young person at risk, or that is inappropriate for a younger audience;
• we do not publish personal or contact details that identify an individual child, and activities for young people should be contactable through the organisation running them, not through a named individual’s private details;
• photographs showing identifiable children are only published where the person submitting confirms they have the appropriate consent, and we avoid combining a child’s image with information that would identify them (such as a full name and location together);
• the site does not provide any private messaging or direct-contact channel between users, and nothing here should be used to arrange unsupervised contact with a child;
• organisations offering activities for children are expected to run their own safeguarding arrangements, such as a safeguarding lead and DBS checks where appropriate; we do not vet organisations on their behalf, and a listing is not an endorsement or a safety guarantee.

Reporting a concern

If you see something on the site that breaks this policy, or that worries you, please tell us using the “Something wrong or missing? Tell us” link on the relevant page, or email [email protected]. We review reports promptly and prioritise anything raising a safety or safeguarding concern. Where we consider it necessary, we may pass information to the police or the relevant safeguarding authority.

This is not a monitored or emergency service

Community Connect is not monitored around the clock and is not a way to report emergencies or urgent safeguarding concerns. If a child or adult is in immediate danger, call 999. To raise a concern about a child’s welfare you can contact your local council’s children’s services, or the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000. In Dorset, BCP Council and Dorset Council both publish safeguarding contact details for reporting concerns about a child or a vulnerable adult.

Contact

Questions about this policy can be sent to [email protected].