Community Guidelines & User Agreement

Last Updated: 21/09/2026

Our Mission

VolunteerNearMe exists to build stronger communities across the United Kingdom by connecting volunteers with meaningful opportunities. We believe in the power of collective action to create positive change, and our platform is designed to foster safe, respectful, and rewarding volunteering throughout England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

1. Community Principles

1.1 Respect and Inclusivity

Treat everyone with dignity: Regardless of background, beliefs, age, race, gender, sexuality, disability, religion, or circumstances.
Embrace diversity: Our community's strength comes from different perspectives and experiences.
Use inclusive language: Avoid discriminatory, offensive, or exclusionary language.
Zero tolerance for harassment: No bullying, threats, or harmful behaviour toward any community member.

1.2 Authenticity and Trust

Be genuine: Use your real name and accurate information, including your date of birth.
Share authentic experiences: Post honest updates and volunteer stories.
Be honest about your hours: Only log hours you actually volunteered, and only check in to sessions you are attending.
Report suspicious activity: Help us keep the community safe and trustworthy.

1.3 Safety First

Prioritise personal safety: Take care when meeting new people or attending events.
Check Groups where it matters: Where relevant, check a Group's details independently, for example on the Charity Commission register.
Meet in public: Initial meetings should take place in public, safe locations where possible.
Trust your instincts: Report concerning behaviour or situations straight away.

1.4 Collaborative Spirit

Support fellow volunteers: Encourage and help others in their volunteering.
Share knowledge: Help newcomers learn about volunteering.
Celebrate achievements: Recognise and congratulate others' milestones and badges.

2. Platform Usage Guidelines

2.1 Profile and Account Standards

Use your real name: Groups need to know who is turning up.
Appropriate photos: Use a photo that represents you appropriately. Some Groups may prefer a real photo when reviewing Channel applications.
Keep things current: Keep your postcode or area up to date so the opportunities you are shown are actually near you, and keep your availability current in any Channel you belong to.
Review your privacy settings: Your profile settings control what visitors can see. Check them when you join and whenever your circumstances change.

2.2 Communication Standards

Respectful tone: Keep all interactions polite and respectful.
Clear communication: Be specific about your availability and what you can commit to.
Relevant content: Keep conversations relevant and appropriate for a community platform.
Channel discussions: All communication in a Channel, including announcements, discussion threads, and replies, must stay respectful and relevant to the volunteering. Abuse of Channel features or targeted harassment within Channels is a serious violation.

2.3 Bookings, Shifts, and Check-In

Only book what you can attend: If you can no longer make a session or shift, cancel it or offer it as a shift swap as early as you can, so someone else can take your place.
Shift swaps: Only offer to cover a shift you can genuinely attend. Once a swap is confirmed, the shift is your responsibility.
Check in honestly: Only check in when you have arrived. Checking in for someone else, or for a session you are not at, is not allowed.
Expressing interest: "I'm interested" shows your name to the opportunity creator. Use it when you genuinely want to hear more.

Acceptable Content

Volunteer experiences and impact stories
Educational content about causes and issues
Event photos and community celebrations, where the people shown are happy to be included
Constructive feedback
Resources and tips for volunteering

Prohibited Content

Party political campaigning or partisan content
Spam
Inappropriate, sexual, explicit, or offensive material
False information or misleading claims
Content that infringes intellectual property rights
Other people's personal information without their consent, including photos that identify people under 18 without permission from them and, where appropriate, their parent or guardian
Hate speech
Channel uploads: Documents that contain malicious software, infringe intellectual property, contain other people's personal data without a lawful reason, or are unrelated to the volunteering. You are responsible for having the right to share anything you upload.
Profanity: The platform automatically filters known offensive language from posts before they appear in other users' feeds. This does not make such content acceptable, and posts containing it remain subject to removal and account action.

Recorded Routes

If you record an activity with GPS tracking on, the route is saved with that activity, and posting it to the feed shows other users the path you took. Before you post one, check that it does not reveal a home address, a vulnerable person's location, or anywhere else that should stay private. You can record without GPS, and you can delete a recorded activity at any time.

2.5 Posting Volunteer Opportunities

Accurate descriptions: Give detailed, honest information about the role.
Clear requirements: State the skills, time commitment, minimum age, and any other requirements.
Safety information: Include relevant health and safety information.
Contact information: Provide at least one way for volunteers to reach you.
Keep it current: Update or cancel sessions that change, and remove opportunities that are no longer running.

3. Safety and Security

3.1 Personal Safety

Tell someone: Let a trusted person know your volunteering plans and location.
Transport: Arrange safe transport to and from volunteer sites.
Health and safety: Be aware of the physical demands and safety requirements of the activity.
Ask about insurance: It is reasonable to ask a Group whether it has insurance covering its volunteers.

3.2 Online Safety

Protect personal information: Don't share sensitive personal details publicly.
Strong passwords: Use a secure, unique password for your account.
Phishing awareness: Be cautious of suspicious links or requests for personal information.
Privacy settings: Review your privacy settings regularly, in your profile settings under Privacy.
Channel information: Administrators of a Channel's Group can see your availability, attendance, application answers, and any emergency contact details you add. Only share this in Channels run by Groups you trust. See our Privacy Policy for details.
Report concerns: Report suspicious online behaviour or security concerns straight away.

3.3 Meeting Safety

Public first meetings: Meet new contacts in public places initially.
Trust your instincts: Leave any situation that makes you uncomfortable.
Know the arrangements: Know the emergency procedures and the person in charge at the volunteer site.

3.4 Volunteering Alongside Under-18s

Volunteers aged 16 and 17 use VolunteerNearMe. If you are an adult:

Keep all contact with volunteers under 18 about the volunteering, and use the Service or the Group's normal arrangements for it
Do not ask a volunteer under 18 for personal contact details, or try to move conversations with them to private messaging apps or social media
Do not share photos that identify a volunteer under 18 without their permission
Report any concern about the safety or wellbeing of a young person to safety@volunteernearme.co.uk. If someone is in immediate danger, call 999.

Accounts belonging to 16 and 17 year olds do not use the friends feature at all: you cannot send friend requests and nobody can send them to you. This is deliberate, and it is not something you have done wrong. Everything that matters for volunteering — finding it, booking it, joining a team channel, recording your hours — works exactly the same.

If you are 16 or 17 and anything makes you feel uncomfortable, you can block the person, report them, or tell a trusted adult. You will never be in trouble for reporting something that worried you.

4. Group and Organisation Guidelines

Groups and their administrators must also follow our Organisation Terms, which set out their responsibilities in full.

4.1 Transparency

Transparent operations: Provide clear information about your Group's purpose and activities.
Contact details: Keep your contact information current and respond to enquiries promptly.
Registration details: If you are a registered charity or company, include your registration number where relevant.

4.2 Volunteer Management

Clear expectations: Communicate role requirements, time commitments, and expectations clearly.
Supervision: Provide appropriate supervision and support.
Recognition: Acknowledge volunteer contributions.
Safe environment: Make sure volunteering takes place in safe, appropriate environments.
Accurate records: Record attendance accurately, and only endorse hours that were genuinely volunteered.
Fair Channel management: Use schedules, shift assignments, applications, tasks, and announcements fairly.
Confidentiality of Channel information: Use the information volunteers give you in a Channel only to organise the volunteering, and keep emergency contact details confidential and for emergency use only.

4.3 Legal Responsibilities

Genuine volunteering: Make sure roles are genuine volunteering and not unpaid work that should be paid.
Safeguarding: Have safeguarding arrangements appropriate to your activities, particularly if volunteers under 18 or adults at risk are involved.
Insurance: Consider whether your activities need insurance covering volunteers.
Equality: Follow equality and anti-discrimination law, including the Equality Act 2010.
Data protection: Comply with UK GDPR when using volunteers' information.

5. Reporting and Enforcement

5.1 Reporting Violations

In-platform reporting: Use the flag icon on any post in your feed, or the report option on opportunity pages and Group pages. Choose a reason (spam, inappropriate content, harassment, misleading information, hate speech, a safeguarding concern, a user who may be under 16, or other) and add details if you like.
Reports are anonymous: We never tell the person or Group you report who reported them.
Blocking: Use the block icon on a feed post to hide that user's content from your feed. Our moderation team is notified. Blocked users are not told they have been blocked. You can see and manage everyone you have blocked in your profile settings, under Blocked Users.
Email: Send reports to safety@volunteernearme.co.uk. We will not tell the person or Group you report who contacted us.
Emergencies: Call 999 first, then let us know.
Safeguarding concerns: Report to safety@volunteernearme.co.uk. Where appropriate, also contact the police or your local authority safeguarding team.

5.2 How We Review Reports

Prompt review: We review reports within 24 to 48 hours. We act immediately on illegal content and on anything suggesting a risk to someone's safety.
Urgent reports: Safeguarding concerns, and reports that a user may be under 16, are escalated as soon as they are submitted rather than joining the normal queue.
Fair investigation: We look at the reported content and its context before deciding what to do.
Evidence: Screenshots and details help us act quickly.
Updates: We will let you know the outcome of your report where we can.

5.3 Consequences for Violations

Depending on how serious and how frequent the violation is, we may:

Warn: Give a formal warning explaining which rule was broken.
Remove content: Remove posts, comments, photos, opportunities, or other content.
Restrict features: Temporarily limit your ability to post, book, or use Channels.
Filter content: Filter or hide content automatically or while it is reviewed.
Suspend: Temporarily suspend your account.
Terminate: Permanently remove your account.
Refer: Report illegal activity or safeguarding concerns to the police or other authorities.

5.4 Appeals

If we take action against your content or account, we will tell you what we did and which rule it relates to, unless doing so would put someone at risk or compromise an investigation.

How to appeal: Email community@volunteernearme.co.uk with the subject line "Appeal" within 30 days of our decision, explaining why you think it was wrong.
Who reviews it: Where possible, your appeal will be reviewed by someone who was not involved in the original decision.
How long it takes: We aim to respond within 14 days.
Outcome: We will tell you whether the decision stands, is changed, or is reversed. If it is reversed, we will restore your content or account where we can.

You can also use this address to complain about how we handled a report you made, or about content you believe we should have removed.

6. Resolving Disagreements

6.1 Between Volunteers and Groups

Talk first: Try to resolve issues through direct, respectful conversation.
Keep records: Keep a note of arrangements and communications.
Platform rules: If you believe a Group has broken our rules, report it and we will investigate.
External help: For disputes we cannot help with, organisations such as ACAS or local volunteer centres may be able to advise.

6.2 Between Users

Stay respectful: Handle disagreements politely.
Report violations: Report behaviour that breaks these guidelines.
Block: If you are receiving repeated unwanted contact or harmful content, block the user to hide their content from your feed. Our moderation team is notified, and the user is not told.

7. Community Resources

7.1 Help and Support

Guides and FAQs: Help with using the platform, available from your profile.
What's new: Updates about new features.
Safety information: The safety sections of these guidelines and our Terms of Service.

7.2 Recognition

Badges: Earn badges as you reach volunteering milestones.
Hours and endorsements: Track your volunteering and have hours endorsed by the Groups you volunteer with.
Sharing: Post about your volunteering and celebrate others' achievements in the feed.

8. Accessibility and Inclusion

Technical accessibility: We aim to work with assistive technologies and meet WCAG 2.2 level AA.
Language: The platform is currently available in English.
Inclusive opportunities: We encourage Groups to offer opportunities that are accessible to disabled volunteers.
Free to use: The platform is free, with no paid features.

9. Changes to These Guidelines

We may update these guidelines to reflect community feedback, changes in the law, or new features. We will notify you of significant changes by email and in the app.

10. Contact and Support

Community guidelines and appeals: community@volunteernearme.co.uk
Safety and safeguarding: safety@volunteernearme.co.uk
Immediate danger: Call 999
Technical and Group support: support@volunteernearme.co.uk

By using VolunteerNearMe, you agree to follow these Community Guidelines and help us maintain a positive, safe, and welcoming volunteer community across the United Kingdom.