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Safer Spaces Policy

  • Organisation: GFSC Community Interest Company (company no. 12135472)
  • Version: 1.0
  • Approved by: Dr Kim Foale & Emma Charleston
  • Date approved: 11/12/2026

What this is

This document is GFSC's safer spaces policy. We've titled it "Safer Spaces" and not a "Safeguarding" policy because GFSC is not a regulated service — we don't deliver care, we don't work with children, and we don't work with adults at risk under the Care Act 2014 as a service group. We are a small adult community. The "safer spaces" framing reflects that scale and risk profile honestly, while still meeting the substantive expectations of the Charity Commission's safeguarding guidance: protecting people from harm, providing routes to raise concerns, handling allegations, and reporting to the relevant authorities when needed.

GFSC runs a small online community (a Discord server) and occasional in-person and online events for adults working on community technology. This policy sets out:

  • How we keep those spaces safer.
  • What we do if someone is at risk of harm.
  • Who to contact and what to expect.

It sits alongside our Community Agreements, which cover day-to-day behaviour and our restorative approach to handling conflict.

Who and what this covers

GFSC is: Kim Foale (sole staff, director), a board of directors, and a network of volunteers who help with PlaceCal, the Discord, blogging, infrastructure, and events. Current volunteer leads are listed in our community handbook.

This policy applies to:

  • Anyone in our Discord server.
  • Anyone attending a GFSC-run event (online or in person).
  • Anyone volunteering, contracting, or working with GFSC.
  • Anyone contacting GFSC through our published channels.

Activities covered:

  • The Discord server (the main day-to-day community space).
  • Occasional online and in-person events (workshops, drop-ins, talks).
  • Volunteer collaboration (PlaceCal contributions, infrastructure work, writing).
  • Consultancy and partnership work with other organisations.

Adults only. GFSC operates 18+ spaces. The Discord rules state this; event registration confirms it; we do not market to or run services for under-18s. If we discover someone underage in our spaces, we remove them, do not retain their data, and do not initiate private contact.

Our approach

We keep things safer by:

  • Setting clear expectations through our Community Agreements.
  • Handling most issues restoratively — talking, repair, learning.
  • Acting quickly and firmly when someone is at risk or causing harm.
  • Being honest about what we can and can't do (we are not a crisis service).

Roles

Safer Spaces Contact

Name: Kim Foale Contact: kim@gfsc.studio / kimadactyl on discord

The Safer Spaces Contact is the day-to-day point of contact. They:

  • Receive concerns from members, volunteers, or moderators.
  • Decide on next steps (signpost, restorative conversation, removal, referral to statutory services).
  • Keep a brief confidential record of concerns and actions taken.
  • Maintain this policy and review it annually.

Safer Spaces Director

Name: Emma Charleston Contact: emma.j.charleston@gmail.com

The Safer Spaces Director is a director-level point of escalation. They:

  • Handle any concern where the Safer Spaces Contact has a conflict of interest (including any concern about Kim).
  • Act as a sounding board for the Contact on difficult judgement calls.
  • Sign off on this policy and any updates.
  • Are not expected to handle day-to-day issues.

The two roles are deliberately separate so that no concern has nowhere to go.

Volunteers and moderators

Volunteers and Discord moderators:

  • Follow the Community Agreements and our restorative approach.
  • Pass anything that feels like more than a code-of-conduct issue to the Safer Spaces Contact.
  • Are not expected to assess risk or act as crisis responders themselves.

What to do if you have a concern

If someone is in immediate danger

Call 999 if you think it necessary. Then let the Safer Spaces Contact know.

If you want to raise a concern with GFSC

You can:

  • DM @ModMail on Discord (per the Community Agreements).
  • Contact the Safer Spaces Contact directly: [email] / Discord DM.
  • Contact the Safer Spaces Director for any concerns that relate to Kim: emma.j.charleston@gmail.com
  • Email a moderator or staff member.

We aim to respond within 2 working days for non-urgent concerns.

If someone discloses harm to you

  1. Listen. Take it seriously.
  2. Don't promise confidentiality. You may need to pass it on.
  3. Don't investigate or interrogate. Just hear them.
  4. Be honest about next steps — tell them you'll pass it to the Safer Spaces Contact.
  5. Pass it on as soon as you can, in their words where possible.

What we do with concerns

When a concern reaches the Safer Spaces Contact, they will:

  1. Record it briefly and confidentially (date, who, what, action).
  2. Assess urgency. Immediate risk → emergency services. Otherwise → next steps below.
  3. Decide on action, which might be:
  4. Signposting the person to a relevant service (see below).
  5. Initiating a restorative conversation per the Community Agreements.
  6. Removing someone from a space.
  7. Referring to a statutory service (police, Local Authority Adult Safeguarding).
  8. Reporting to Discord Trust & Safety for platform-level action.
  9. Recording it and taking no further action, with reasons.
  10. Consult the Safer Spaces Director for difficult judgement calls or anything involving a director, staff member, or significant risk.
  11. Follow up with the person who raised the concern where appropriate.

We refer up to statutory services when something is beyond our capacity to handle — that's the chain. We are not the end of the line for serious concerns.

Confidentiality

Concerns are shared only with people who need to know to act — usually just the Safer Spaces Contact, sometimes the Director.

Sensitive personal information — including gender identity, sexual orientation, trans status, HIV status, immigration status — is not shared without the person's explicit consent, unless there is an immediate-risk reason that overrides consent. Where we must share without consent, we tell the person what we're sharing and why, where it's safe to do so.

We comply with UK GDPR. Records are held securely and only kept as long as needed.

Signposting

We are not a crisis service. Where someone needs ongoing support, we point them to:

Mental health and crisis - Samaritans — 116 123 (free, 24/7) - Shout — text SHOUT to 85258 (free, 24/7) - NHS 111 option 2 — mental health crisis

LGBTQ+ - Switchboard — 0800 0119 100, 10am–10pm — switchboard.lgbt - Mindline Trans+ — 0300 330 5468 (Mon & Fri 8pm–midnight) - Galop (LGBT+ anti-abuse) — 0800 999 5428 — galop.org.uk - LGBT Foundation — 0345 3 30 30 30

Hate crime - 999 / 101 - True Vision — report-it.org.uk

Domestic abuse - National Domestic Abuse Helpline — 0808 2000 247 - Galop LGBT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline — 0800 999 5428

Allegations against GFSC people

If a concern is raised about a volunteer, contractor, staff member, or director:

  • It goes to the Safer Spaces Contact, or to the Safer Spaces Director if it concerns the Contact.
  • The person it concerns is told, unless doing so would prejudice an investigation or put the complainant at risk.
  • If the allegation suggests a criminal offence, we refer to the police.
  • Internal action (suspension, removal) is decided by the directors.

Knowledge and capacity

GFSC is a small organisation with limited training budget. Our approach:

  • The Safer Spaces Contact and Director read the free introductory safeguarding materials from the Ann Craft Trust and the LGBT Consortium safeguarding toolkit.
  • Where free local training is available (Manchester Safeguarding Adults Board, NCVO), we take it up.
  • Paid training (e.g. Ann Craft Trust Level 3) is something we'd like to do as funding allows, not a precondition for the role.
  • We don't pretend to have expertise we don't — for anything outside our knowledge, we refer up.

In this, we aim to be honest about our capacity. It is also why this policy emphasises referring up to statutory services rather than trying to handle complex situations internally.

Review

This policy is reviewed:

  • Annually, by the Safer Spaces Contact and Director.
  • After any significant incident, to see if changes are needed.
  • When law or guidance materially changes.

Updates are signed off by the directors.

Published at handbook.gfsc.community/safer-spaces-policy. Available on request from [email].