Terms and Conditions of Membership

It Takes A Village (ITAV)

Terms and Conditions of Membership

ITAV is a peer-to-peer support community by adopters, for adopters. We’re there for families throughout their adoption journey. Online and in person, our parents’ groups, events, and resources offer mutual support, information and inspiration to adopters and those considering adoption. We believe that by coming together, sharing our experience and understanding, we can help each other to thrive. Founded and led by adoptive parents, ITAV reflects and responds to its members, helping them navigate the challenges and joys that adoption brings [See the becoming a member section of our website for more information].

The word ‘event’ in these Terms and Conditions covers both live events and virtual or online events.

In order to become an ITAV Member, register on our database, or use our services you must confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to these Terms and Conditions, so it’s important you read them carefully and check that all the information you give us is accurate. If you have any questions about these Terms and Conditions, or anything else regarding the Membership process, please contact us at admin@ittakesavillage.uk

Becoming an ITAV Member

1. Membership is free and for individuals only so each adoptive or prospective adoptive parent should make their own application. Please ensure that all the information you provide ITAV is correct at the time of submission.

2. Membership is open to anyone who is going through or who has been through the UK adoption process or has adopted outside the UK and is now resident in the UK.

A member who is an approved adopter (with adopted children) is able to validate their partner (e.g. a step-parent or partner who cannot officially be validated by a social worker or official paperwork) to become a full member of ITAV.

Typically, the membership stages are:

Prospective adopters - Stage 2 of assessment process) will be able to access resources, attend talks and specific peer support groups and events.

Approved adopter with child/ren placed - will have full access to all of our services including peer support sessions and participation in family friendly events.

In order to ensure we let you know about the most appropriate services and events for whatever stage you’re at in the adoption process, we encourage you to let us know if/when your stage changes by updating your Member account.

3. By submitting your application, you agree that ITAV can carry out identity checks to confirm that you are in the process of adopting a child or have done so. We cannot take your membership application further until your identity and your adoption status has been confirmed, usually by a social worker, or other professional, but in some cases through self-evidencing or partner / adopter validation.

4. When you apply to become an ITAV Member you may choose to join one local group (Bristol, BATHNES, Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset or Wiltshire).. ITAV offers groups which operate in various local areas and some which are designed for particular types of Member (e.g. Singles). When you join a group, you will be added to that group’s e-mailing list. You may change your group choices at any time.

5. Each Member is responsible for keeping his or her own Member account details up to date. You may change your account details, including which ITAV groups you belong to, at any time either by logging into your account or, if you cannot do this, by contacting admin@ittakesavillage.uk

6. You can choose to stop being a Member at any time.

7. Being an ITAV Member does not give you any rights under our constitution, this means, for instance, that you can’t elect board members.

ITAV Programmes and Events

8. ITAV offers a variety of programmes, events and information to its members when you participate in an ITAV event, you must follow these rules:

1. Members must ensure that they always respect the privacy of other Members. You must never share confidential information about another Member or his or her family without consent. For example, you may not:
   1. take photographs or other images of an adult or a child during an ITAV event without the permission of the adult or the child’s parent;
   2. publish, disclose or use photographs or other images without the permission of the adult or parent; or
   3. refer to who attends sessions.
2. Anything that is said within an ITAV activity or event must stay within the group and must remain confidential;
3. Listen, but don’t give advice, the groups are not intended as therapy sessions;
4. Be respectful of others’ emotional space and avoid interrupting;
5. Please do your best to arrive/join on time.

9. If you decide to set up or join a group-messaging arrangement (for example, WhatsApp) to communicate with other Members in relation to ITAV or ITAV-related activities, you acknowledge that you do so independently of ITAV and that ITAV has no responsibility for the content or security of the messages.

10. By participating in an ITAV event in person, or online, you acknowledge that ITAV has no responsibility for any unauthorised photographs or other images, or for any unauthorised use of authorised images.

11. Providing information about training opportunities or other services does not imply any endorsement by ITAV.

12. Each local ITAV group organises its own events, based on its Members’ wishes and the group’s resources. Because of this, not all ITAV local groups offer the same selection of events and each group’s selection may change from time to time. ITAV cannot guarantee that any event or service will continue to be available or that arrangements like frequency, location and timing will stay the same.

13. There may be times when a planned ITAV event needs to be cancelled or changed, possibly at short notice. While we will try to let affected Members know sufficiently in advance about any cancellation or other change, we cannot guarantee that we will always be able to do so. You acknowledge that ITAV will not be responsible for any expenses or other losses that you may incur if an event is cancelled or changed.

14. Most ITAV events and services are run by volunteers, who are also adoptive parents or prospective adopters, and we may need to alter or amend activities depending on their availability. Volunteers may be unable to respond immediately to questions or issues raised by Members.

15. If you bring a child to an ITAV event, you retain full responsibility for that child and you acknowledge that ITAV is not able to accept any responsibility for the child’s welfare or safety. Please see ITAV’s policy and procedures about safeguarding.

Attending Events with Non-Members

16. Where advertised as such, participation in some events is for Members only. This means that any partner who does not join ITAV will have limited access to our events and services.

17. We recommend, therefore, that if a couple have adopted together or are in the adopter-approval process together, both become Members so you can fully benefit from what ITAV offers.

18. Some events are intended for Members accompanied by their children, their partner (who is not an ITAV member) and extended family members. In these cases, you are responsible for the behaviour of anyone participating in an ITAV event with you and you must ensure that the person is aware of ITAV’s rules for its events (See point 8).

19. If your partner (who is not an ITAV Member) or anyone else you invite to participate in an ITAV event or use any service provided by us, acts in a way which would be a breach of these Terms and Conditions, we may bar that person from using any or all of our services or participating in ITAV events going forward.

Respect, Confidentiality, Policies and Procedures

20. ITAV Members must treat each other with respect and dignity at all times. This includes making sure that no-one is discriminated against for any reason, including on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation or identity, race, religion or disability.

21. All Members must comply with ITAV’s policies and procedures. These are aimed at protecting Members and their families and enabling ITAV to operate effectively and properly. These include policies and procedures about privacy, confidentiality, health and safety, and safeguarding. To read all our policies and procedures visit our website.

22. ITAV takes its duty to protect any personal information which it holds about Members and their families seriously. This includes personal information that you may provide when you apply for Membership and that we may collect about you afterwards. For further details about the types of personal information that we collect, how we use and protect it, and what your rights are in relation to it, please see ITAV’s Privacy Notice.

Social media, websites and online meeting platforms

23. Other than personal information that ITAV may hold in accordance with its Privacy Notice, anything which you disclose, submit or offer to ITAV on or through the website, during any online event or otherwise will become and stay the property of ITAV once submitted (unless already the property of someone else). This includes comments, blogs, feedback, suggestions, questions, ideas, artwork, images and any other submissions (collectively called ‘Submissions’). You must promise that you own or have the right to use any Submissions.

24. Any Submission that you may make on any third-party social networking or other site, or through any online meeting platform, must respect the privacy of other Members and keep their information confidential. In line with our rules, you must not disclose information about anyone else without their consent. Nothing, including third-party advertising, posted on any third-party site or done during any online event (except by an authorised ITAV person) is the responsibility of, or endorsed by, ITAV. Everything posted on any third-party site or done during any online event must comply with these Terms and Conditions and the site or online meeting platform terms of use.

25. Submissions must not include:

1. abusive, offensive or otherwise inappropriate language;
2. profane, spiteful, racist, sexually explicit, sexually gratuitous or discriminatory comments or content that might otherwise be considered to be harassment, abuse or threats against the personal safety or property of others;
3. remarks that repeat criminal accusations, false, defamatory or misleading statements;
4. material which impersonates others or personal information about anyone, including yourself, such as telephone numbers, postal addresses or credit card numbers;
5. spam or advertising;
6. third-party brand names or trademarks; or
7. HTML code or computer script.

26. ITAV may decide not to publish any Submission or to remove or edit it, or to take any appropriate action it decides is necessary if the Submission, including any Submission on a third-party site or made through an online meeting platform, does not comply with these Terms and Conditions. Please let us know if you see any Submission that does not comply with our rules.

27. Participation in an online event may involve you disclosing information, including personal information, to the online meeting platform provider. How this is held and used will be determined by the terms and conditions of the relevant provider and is not the responsibility of IATV.

28. ITAV records some online events to make them available to Members afterwards. Other events or meetings may be recorded but notice of this will always be given in advance. You should take account of this, along with the nature of each online event, in deciding how you participate in it (for example, whether you are visible to other participants and how your identity is shown).

Ending or suspending your ITAV membership

29. ITAV may end or suspend your ITAV membership or limit your access to any or all of ITAV’s services or events, if it has reasonable grounds to do so. Reasonable grounds include breaking any of these Terms and Conditions. ITAV will notify you of any termination, suspension or limitation, which will usually take effect immediately.

30. ITAV reserves the right to end the membership of an adopter’s partner (who was validated for membership by the partner, as a non-adoptive parent to their adopted children) should the relationship end and membership of ITAV become inappropriate for the ex-partner of the adopter. In this case, you need to contact ITAV by emailing admin@ittakesavillage.uk

31. You may terminate your ITAV membership at any time by sending an email to admin@ittakesavillage.uk

Supporting ITAV

32. You are encouraged to put forward your ideas about improving what ITAV does or to volunteer in running any of the services and events the charity provides. You may also support ITAV’s operation as a charity by applying to become an ITAV trustee or working on a board committee or working group.

33. If you would like to apply to be a volunteer, please email admin@ittakesavillage.uk. Appointments to volunteer roles may be subject to suitability assessments.

34. All ITAV volunteers must comply with these Terms and Conditions as well as the specific policies and procedures applicable to them. ITAV provides training for volunteers relevant to their roles, including about the use of personal information held under our Privacy Notice.

35. To help us improve and develop our services, we may send you survey requests. We will only use your responses as described in our Privacy Notice.

Complaints

36. We hope that any issues which might arise between a Member and ITAV can be resolved informally and in a constructive manner. However, any Member may formally raise any concerns about any ITAV event or service or any person working for ITAV as a trustee, volunteer or staff member under ITAV’s Complaints Policy [see website for more information].

Changes to Terms and Conditions

37. ITAV may change these Terms and Conditions from time to time. Any changes will be notified to members by email and will apply from the date of notification. By using our website, the member hub or continuing to make use of your ITAV membership, you will be treated as agreeing to any changes to our Terms and Conditions.