Community Guidelines

• Be Polite and Kind. Treat everyone with respect and empathy. A simple “thank you”, “please” or “sorry” goes a long way. Remember, everyone is here for support, so make sure your contributions are helpful and considerate.
• Respect Diverse Experiences. We’re a community of individuals with different backgrounds and journeys. What works for one person may not work for someone else. Do not invalidate or dismiss someone’s feelings, experiences, or opinions. You are free to disagree but do so respectfully.
• Setting up an account. Make sure you provide the correct information on sign-up and keep your account information up-to-date. This is to protect your privacy when using the forum and for trained volunteers to contact you directly if necessary.

Rules

1. Protect Everyone’s Privacy. This is a safe space. Never share personal details about yourself or others, including real names, addresses, phone numbers, photos, or financial information. Anonymity is key to keeping this community secure.
2. Report Your Concerns. If you see something that concerns you — whether it’s a rule violation or a user who seems to be in crisis — use the report button. Trained volunteers and staff will review it. Do not engage with the user directly, as this can escalate the situation.
3. No Threats, Harmful or Sexual Content. Posts that contain threats of self-harm, harm to others or illegal activities are strictly forbidden. The safety of our community is our highest priority and we will take immediate action to address any such content.

Using the Safe Space (Trigger Warning)

• The “Safe Space” section of the CMHF is to discuss difficult topics which some users may find difficult or “Triggering”. That’s why certain Forums are grouped together and marked with a Trigger Warning, so users can decide whether or not they want to engage.
• All Safe Space content is heavily monitored to make sure everyone is safe and the Community Guidelines are being followed.
• No matter the Topic or content, all contributors must follow the Community Guidelines & Rules, protecting all individuals involved Identities and locations, etc.
• Any potential breaches of the guidelines and Rules will be deleted immediately, no matter the subject matter. This is to keep the Community as a whole, safe.

User Restrictions and Bans

Sadly with any online space, some users will not follow the Community Guidelines & Rules, either mistakenly or maliciously.

This means the Admin Team and Forum Moderators will need to take action to remove User Generated Content and consider if the User(s) involved need a Time-Out or Ban from the Community.

This might appear hash at first but the safety of Community is our number 1 priority. All users can Appeal a decision made (like a Ban) but once the Admin Team have made a collective decision, that decision is final.