Terms and conditions for your use of the wakefieldvcs.org website, including discussion forum rules and acceptable use of comments and moderation policy:

• introduction
• content
• trademarks
• unauthorised use
• links
• privacy
• photographs
• registration
• password
• views expressed by others
• limitation of liability
• discussion forum - rules, acceptable use of comments & moderation policy
• modification of the terms & conditions
• what to do if I still need help?

Introduction

Welcome to www.wakefieldvcs.org. If you continue to browse and use this website you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions of use, which together with our privacy and cookies statement, moderation policy, discussion forum rules and acceptable use of comments govern Voluntary Action Wakefield District’s (VAWD) relationship with you in relation to this website.

The term 'Voluntary Action Wakefield District', 'VAWD', 'us' or ‘we’ refers to the owner of the website whose registered office is 11 Upper York Street, Wakefield, WF1 3LQ. Our charity registration number is 516150 and our Company Limited by Guarantee registration number is 01878287. The term ‘you’ refers to the user or viewer of our website.

The use of this website is subject to the following terms of use:

Content

The content of the pages of this website is for your general information and use only. It is subject to change without notice.

Neither we nor any third parties provide any warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy, timeliness, performance, completeness or suitability of the information and materials found or offered on this website for any particular purpose. You acknowledge that such information and materials may contain inaccuracies or errors and we expressly exclude liability for any such inaccuracies or errors to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Your use of any information or materials on this website is entirely at your own risk, for which we shall not be liable. It shall be your own responsibility to ensure that any products, services or information available through this website meet your specific requirements.

This website contains material which is owned by or licensed to us. This material includes, but is not limited to, the design, layout, look, appearance and graphics. Reproduction is prohibited other than in accordance with the copyright notice, which forms part of these terms and conditions.

VAWD reserves the right in its absolute discretion at any time to edit, alter, delete or move any material whatsoever posted to, appearing on, or distributed by www.wakefieldvcs.org and you.

By submitting content, which shall include your member name to any public area of www.wakefieldvcs.org, including discussion forums, you grant VAWD royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive licence to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish and translate such content for the purposes of the online community to supply information, promote services and offer interaction and communication between users of the community.

Trademarks

"www.wakefieldvcs.org" and the "www.wakefieldvcs.org" logo are trademarks for this single portal web project managed by Voluntary Action Wakefield District. All other logos and trademarks used in this website are the trademarks or logos of their respective owners.

Unauthorised use

Unauthorised use of this website may give rise to a claim for damages and/or be a criminal offence.

Your use of this website and any dispute arising out of such use of the website is subject to the laws of England, Scotland and Wales.

You must not use www.wakefieldvcs.org in a way that might reasonably be expected to cause www.wakefieldvcs.org or the operation of another’s computer to be interrupted, damaged or rendered as less efficient.

Links

From time to time this website may also include links to other websites. These links are provided for your convenience to provide further information. They do not signify that we endorse the website(s). We have no responsibility for the content of the linked website(s).

Privacy

Voluntary Action Wakefield District is strongly committed to protecting the privacy of users of its interactive products and services as well as to respecting the Data Protection Acts 1984 and 1998. We do all that we can to protect information about participants. Please view our privacy and cookies statement for more information. Other websites linked from this site are not covered by this privacy and cookies statement.

Photographs

Photographs used on this website have been supplied by third parties. It is the responsibility of the third parties to ensure all photographs of subjects have had required permissions granted for the images to appear on this website. For subjects aged 18 years or younger, parental or guardian consent must be sought. VAWD does not accept any liability over the use of these photographs.

Registration

Many elements of www.wakefieldvcs.org can be viewed by anyone. However, there are some services which require registration. When you register with us you are stating that you are over 18 years of age or that you are aged 18 or below with parental consent to use the service for which you are registering. Users without this consent are not allowed to participate or provide us with personal information.

Password

When you register to use www.wakefieldvcs.org you will be asked to create a password. You must keep this password confidential and must not share it with anyone. You are deemed responsible for all activities that occur with your password. If you know or suspect that another person knows your password, you must notify us immediately.

Views expressed by others

VAWD does not necessarily endorse the views expressed by users on www.wakefieldvcs.org, for example on the discussion forums. You alone are responsible for the content of your messages and your use of www.wakefieldvcs.org and the consequences of any such messages.

Limitation of liability

The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. While we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.

Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of VAWD. We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.

Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, VAWD takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.

Discussion forums

To participate in VAWD’s discussion forums you must adhere to www.wakefieldvcs.org discussion forum rules and acceptable use of comments and moderation policy found at the bottom of this document.

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to terminate a user’s access to the message board(s) or chat room(s).

www.wakefieldvcs.org discussion forum rules and acceptable use of comments

We want participation in our discussion forums to be a rewarding and positive experience for everyone involved. Here are some rules and guidelines to help ensure that it remains a safe place to participate. You can report unsuitable content and breaches to these guidelines using the ‘report abuse’ link.

1. Write in plain English. It is important that you write your comment in a way that everyone can understand. This includes avoiding jargon and spelling out any acronyms that you may use in your own line of work.
2. Be concise. Other users are more likely to read your contribution if it is concise. For this reason, we aim to summarise content into 100 to 150 word articles and do not tend to publish any articles longer than 400 words.
3. Stay on-topic and do not go outside the scope of the topic under discussion. Do not post messages that are unrelated to the forum, blog, webchat or wiki discussion you are contributing to. Suggested topics need to be of relevance to this website. VAWD and its partners may also request that they are held in a private discussion forum if the topic is of a sensitive nature.
4. Be respectful of others. Debates may be lively but should be a positive experience for everyone involved. Comments should be civil and must not be malicious or designed to offend. No references should be made to an individual’s character or personality. Do not swear or make obscene comments.
5. Do not incite hatred on the basis of sexuality, gender, race, religion or any other personal characteristic.
6. Do not break the law. This includes libel, contempt of court (comments which may affect the outcome of a court case), condoning illegal activity or posting messaging that breaches the confidence of third party intellectual property rights. You are legally responsible for what you write and by submitting a comment you undertake to indemnify Voluntary Action Wakefield District and the Wakefield Together Partnership from any issues arising from its publication.
7. Do not post personal information. This relates to addresses, phone numbers or other online contact details relating to yourself or others.
8. Do not advertise products and services, or engage in spamming. No advertising or promotion is allowed unless it is for an event, publication or similar item that has direct relevance to the subject. You must not add the same comment to more than one forum, or more than once to a discussion. Sharing information to help others locate knowledge and expertise is welcomed if relevant to the subject being discussed.
9. Do not add inappropriate links. All links submitted must be appropriate for a general audience and must not link to material that is obscene, defamatory or inciting hatred or violence.
10. 10. Do not mislead others by falsely claiming to represent a person or organisation or abusing our registration procedure.
11. If you are under 18 you must get your parent/guardian’s permission before taking part in these online discussion forums. Users without this consent are not allowed to participate or provide us with personal information.

Discussion forum moderation policy

Being involved in discussions

VAWD encourages open, lively debate and the majority of discussions on this website are open discussions. This means that comments are not pre-moderated by VAWD before they are published and are self moderated by the community that uses them. Users of these discussion forums are encouraged to report any abuse and if other users breach the discussion forum rules and acceptable use of comments. This will send an alert to VAWD to review and deal with any breaches of the policy and remove corresponding data if appropriate during moderator hours. VAWD will also monitor discussions to review and deal with any breaches of the policy but not edit comments before they are published or delay their publication.

If a discussion is of a sensitive nature and is a closed discussion it will be moderated and this will clearly be stated on the forum. This means that comments will not appear immediately on the forum.

Please note that the decision to edit, publish and/or delete comments and new topics remains at the discretion of VAWD. View our discussion rules and acceptable use of comments for more information.

Starting a new topic

Topics submitted for discussion forums on this site are checked by VAWD and its partners against the moderation policy outlined in our terms and conditions before they are published. This is to ensure that topics are suitable for this website and that any sensitive discussions that should be held in private can be activated within a ‘private’ forum environment and/or moderated if the nature of the discussion requires this.

About the moderators

Moderators regularly visit the forums and where appropriate submit posts to encourage discussion. They facilitate online consultations to ensure that information contained in them is accessible and that everyone can take part. They encourage debate by asking questions but will not offer opinions. Moderators are concerned with the quality of the discussion, rather than the interests of one individual, group or idea over another.

The site will usually be moderated between 9.30am and 5pm Monday to Friday. Comments made in open discussions will be published outside of these hours and you can submit and read posts at any time. Closed discussion comments will be published in moderator hours, which may vary.

Modification of the terms and conditions

VAWD may modify the terms of this agreement on this site. You agree to periodically review this agreement and to be aware of any such revisions. If the revision is unacceptable to you, you agree to stop accessing this site. Your continued use of this website following such notification of any such revision(s) shall be deemed as acceptance of and agreement to abide by all such revisions.

What do I do if I still need help?

If you need any help to use these discussion forums or have any questions, please contact us.