Terms and conditions

These Terms of use apply in respect of your use of Scope's website – www.scope.org.uk and our related subdomain community.scope.org.uk (our website).

1. Who we are and how to contact us

scope.org.uk is a site operated by Scope ("We").

We are a registered charity (charity no. 208231) and a limited company in England and Wales (company no. 520866).

Our registered address is at Here East Press Centre, 14 East Bay Lane, E15 2GW

You can contact us by email, phone or post. 

2. Use of our website

Our privacy policy and cookie policy also apply to your use of our website.

Using our website means you agree to these Terms of use, our privacy policy and our cookie policy in full. You are also responsible for ensuring that anyone who accesses our website through your internet connection is aware of these terms of use and other applicable terms and conditions, and that they comply with them. If you do not agree to these Terms of use, please do not use our website.

Our website is aimed at people in England and Wales; we cannot confirm that content available on our website is appropriate for use or available in other locations.

3. We can’t guarantee the accuracy of the information on our website

The content on our website is provided for general information only. We try to ensure that our website is accurate and up to date. We may sometimes make mistakes and can’t guarantee the accuracy of the information on our website or that you’ll always be able to access it. We don’t accept liability for errors or omissions or for any reliance you place on the information on our website.

4. We are not responsible for websites we link to

Our website contains links to third parties’ websites for your information only. We have no control over the content of those sites or resources and we don’t endorse or accept liability for the content of them.

Our website links to pages maintained by us on third party social media websites. When you use those pages, you must do so under their terms of use and these Terms of use.

5. Rules about linking to our website

You may link to our website pages that are open to the public, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it.

You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists.

We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.

The website from which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in these Terms of use.

Our website must not be framed on any other site. If you wish to link to or make any use of content on our website other than that set out above, please contact our digital team, either by post to Scope, Here East Press Centre, 14 East Bay Lane, E15 2GW, England or by email to digitalservices@scope.org.uk.

6. How you may use material on our website

We are the owner or licensee of all copyright and other intellectual property rights in our website and in the content published on it unless otherwise stated. All content is protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved. Any unauthorised use of our website’s content may infringe ours or a third party’s rights.

Unless we agree in writing, you must not use any content on our site in our website in any way, except:

• to ask about us and our services
• to download and temporarily store one or more pages of our website for your viewing on a personal computer or terminal; or
• for private or non-commercial academic research

If you use any material on our website for any of these purposes you:

• must not change documents or related images
• must not use images separately from the accompanying text
• must include our copyright and trademark notices on all permitted copies

If you quote our website’s content in a publication associated with your private or academic research you must include the copyright notice contained within it or, if there is none, include “© Copyright Scope. All rights reserved” and the year it was obtained from our website.

If you wish to use any material on our website in any other way, including for commercial purposes, please write to our digital team, either by post to Scope, Here East Press Centre, 14 East Bay Lane, E15 2GW, England or by email to digitalservices@scope.org.uk.

7. We are not responsible for viruses and other harmful material

We don’t guarantee that our website, its servers, downloadable files and emails are free from viruses or other harmful components.

You are responsible for using suitable anti-virus and firewall systems to protect your computer and equipment. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage as a result of any infection of your computer and equipment.

You must not:

• introduce, or try to introduce, any virus, Trojans, worms, logic bombs or other contaminant to our website or any of its software or systems that is malicious or technologically harmful
• attempt to gain unauthorised access to our website, the server on which our website is stored or any server, computer or database connected to our website
• try to weaken or damage how our website works, whether by helping to organise, or taking part in, a denial of service attack or otherwise, or
• try to access, alter, de-compile, reverse engineer, destroy or tamper with any part of our website, its software or our systems

By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use our website will cease immediately.

8. You must keep your account details safe

Keep your community username and password secure at all times and to contact us by emailing community@scope.org.uk or calling 0808 800 3333 immediately if you have reason to believe that they may no longer be secure.

We have the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our reasonable opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these terms of use.

When you sign up to the online community we will use your email address to send you updates about the community and notifications. You can edit your preferences or opt out of these emails using the links in these emails.

You may close your account by emailing community@scope.org.uk

9. Posting on our website

You agree to:

• only post material that complies with law in England and Wales and any other applicable law or regulation
• ensure that contributions are accurate (where they state facts) and be genuinely held (where they state opinions), and
• accept full responsibility for any material you post. You will be responsible for any loss or damage we suffer as a result of your breach of these Terms of use

You agree not to:

• interfere with anybody else’s use of our website
• use any other user's identity or a false identity to log into our website or misrepresent your identity of affiliation with any person in any way
• post threatening or abusive material or invade another’s privacy or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety
• post any material in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence
• post inaccurate, deceptive, defamatory, abusive, offensive, pornographic, racist, sexist, violent, obscene, discriminatory, threatening, hateful or otherwise inappropriate or illegal material, or to post material which will constitute a criminal offence or give rise to civil liability
• post medical advice, or accept medical advice posted
• advertise or offer to sell goods or services for any commercial purpose, make requests for money without the express written permission of Scope
• transmit, or procure the sending of any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of solicitation, or
• post, make available or otherwise advocate any material protected by copyright, trademark, confidentiality or other proprietary right without the express permission of the owner of the copyright, trademark, confidential information or any other proprietary right. You acknowledge that you will be solely liable for any costs and damages resulting from any infringement.
• You acknowledge that:
  Material posted on our website is not private and can be viewed by everybody who visits
  Messages between users on our website can be read by admins at any time.
  Other users may be able to identify who has posted material

Find out more about online safety on our forum

Please note: if information is shared that indicates children or adults at risk have been abused or exploited or are at risk of abuse or exploitation then we have a duty of care to act and pass on that information to relevant authorities.

When posting material on our website, you confirm that:

• you are the sole author of that material and it is your own original work, or otherwise that you have a licence to post it
• you are granting us a worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free licence for commercial or non-commercial purposes to display the material in all and any media in its original format or edited, altered or combined with other works
• you are not entitled to make any claim for payment, editorial control, use or any works derived from it
• that these permissions may not be withdrawn and shall last forever, binding on you, your successors and assignees, and
• you are granting to all other users of Scope’s website the right to access such material and to view, store and reproduce the material for personal use and to enforce these Terms of use against you if you breach them

10. User-generated content is not approved by us

Our website may include information and materials uploaded by other users of the site, including to posts to our online community and comments on our blog. This information and these materials have not been verified or approved by us. The views expressed by other users on our site do not represent our views or values. When users submit material on our website, the material is often posted automatically. We may, but are not obliged to, monitor this material and edit or remove any material we deem inappropriate, without giving reason or notice.

The use of our interactive features by a minor is subject to the consent of their parent or guardian. We advise parents who permit their children to use an interactive feature that it is important that they communicate with their children about their safety online. Minors who are using any interactive features should be made aware of the potential risks to them.

If you wish to complain about information and materials uploaded by other users please email community@scope.org.uk.

11. Our website is not for commercial or business use

Please note that we only provide our site for domestic and private use. You agree not to use our site for any commercial or business purposes, and we have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.

12. Breach of these Terms of Use

We may determine, in our discretion, whether there has been a breach of these Terms of use.

When a breach of this policy has occurred, we may take such action as we deem appropriate. We may:

• immediately, temporarily or permanently withdraw your right to use our website
• immediately, temporarily or permanently remove or edit your posts or material you uploaded to our website
• give you a warning; undertake legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all losses and costs on an indemnity basis - including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs - resulting from the breach
• take any other legal action against you
• or disclose information to law enforcement authorities

We exclude liability for actions taken in response to breaches of this acceptable use policy. The responses described in this policy are not limited. We may take any other action we reasonably think is needed.

13. Changes to these Terms of use

We may change the Terms of use at any time without notice. Every time you wish to use our site, please check these terms to ensure you understand the terms that apply at the time. By continuing to use our website you agree to be bound by any changes we make to these Terms of use.

14. We may make changes to our website

We may update and change our website from time to time.

15. We may suspend or withdraw our website

Our website is made available free of charge. We do not guarantee that our website, or any content on it, will always be available or be uninterrupted. We may suspend or withdraw or restrict the availability of all or any part of our website for operational reasons.

16. Trademarks, logos and service marks

Trademarks, logos and service marks, used on our website, whether registered or unregistered, are the property of, or licensed to, Scope. You are not permitted to use them without our approval.

17. General

If we are prevented from enforcing any of these Terms of use it will not mean we cannot enforce the rest of them, which will continue to apply. These Terms of use will be governed by English law. The courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction to hear disputes about these Terms.

18. Feedback and complaints

We welcome your comments about our website. If you find anything incorrect, not working or want to say anything else, please email digitalservices@scope.org.uk or use our website feedback form.

Report user content which might break these Terms of use using the “Report” link next to posts.

Make a complaint about Scope or our website.

Please contact us with any questions.