Proud Connections Live Chat is a digital one-to-one chat service delivered by The Proud Trust (Charity number: 1161102). Proud Connections Live Chat provides support, information and referrals to other groups and services for young people and the adults who support them, with a focus on LGBT+ identities (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and related identities).

Our chat operators are experienced staff members who are available to listen and support you during our open hours. Before using Proud Connections Live Chat, please ensure you have read the below Terms of Service and our Confidentiality Statement, by accessing or using Proud Connections you are agreeing to both of these. If you have any questions about these terms, please contact us by email at info@theproudtrust.org.

Changes to terms

The Proud Trust may make changes to these terms at any time, and we will always post the most up to date version here. Any changes that we do make will be applied immediately.

Service use

Proud Connections Live Chat is a listening service providing support, information and referral on to further support; we are not a crisis line or an emergency service. If you need urgent support or support while we are closed, please contact Childline on 0800 1111, Samaritans on 116 123 or text SHOUT to 85258. In an emergency you should always contact 999.

Feedback Surveys

At the end of your chat on Proud Connections Live Chat, you will receive a link to a feedback survey. The information you provide in this survey will help us learn about your experience and improve our service. It is important to remember when completing the survey that:

• You do not have to answer any or all of the questions if you don’t want to.
• The answers that you do give will be anonymous, so we won’t be able to see who has given specific answers.
• For some of the questions you can give longer answers but remember not to give your name or anyone else’s name, so the answers stay anonymous.

The anonymous responses to these surveys may be used by The Proud Trust for promotion of the Live Chat service and for reporting to funders and other stakeholders. We may share responses with external people for evaluation purposes – remember all the details will be anonymous.

Unacceptable use

Proud Connections Live chat is here to listen and support young people aged 13+ and adults who support them, and we can talk about anything you need. However, there are times when we may need to end the conversation, such as if you are using the chat service in an inappropriate way. Examples of inappropriate or unacceptable use include but are not limited to:

• Threatening, harassing or abusing the service, its operators or other users
• Pretending to be someone else
• Misusing the service (for example, ‘prank’ messages)
• Using sexually inappropriate language
• Any use of the service with malicious intent.

The operators have the right to end the chat at any point if you do any of the above. If necessary, or if you continue to access and use the service in an unacceptable way, we may also block you from using the service again in the future.

Feedback and complaints

We are always interested to hear your feedback about our services. Any feedback we get will be used to develop our services to make sure we are supporting people in the best way possible.

To give us feedback on your experience of using Proud Connections Live Chat, you can either:

• Complete our feedback form here
• Email us at feedback@theproudtrust.org, providing us with as much detail as possible

We will aim to acknowledge your feedback within five working days. If you are submitting a formal complaint about the service, we will aim to resolve the issue within one month. There may be times when we need longer to investigate the claims and address the issues raised. If this is the case, we will keep you informed of progress and any updates.

If you are not happy with the outcome of the complaint, you will be able to appeal the decision and we will be able to advise you on the next steps of that process.