Terms and Conditions

1. About these terms

1.1 These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your use of www.supportconnect.org.uk and the Support Connect Learner Portal at www.supportconnect.org.uk (together, the "Site").

1.2 The Site is operated by Support Connect Ltd ("Support Connect", "we", "us", "our"), a company registered in England and Wales under company number 12514780, whose registered office is Shell Store, Canary Drive, Skylon Park, Hereford, HR2 6SR. VAT number: 349567452.

1.3 You can contact us at admin@supportconnect.org.uk or on 01905 427815.

1.4 Please read these Terms carefully. By accessing or using the Site you agree to be bound by them. If you do not agree, please do not use the Site.

1.5 These Terms should be read alongside our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy, which explain how we handle personal data and cookies. Where you use our assessment, support or mentoring services, those services may also be subject to separate agreements with you, your training provider or your employer.

2. Who can use the Site

2.1 The Site is intended for:

• Employees, apprentices, university students, supported interns and other learners who are receiving, or are being referred for, learning support, assessment or wellbeing services;
• training providers, education providers and employers who work with us; and
• general visitors seeking information about our services.

2.2 If you are under 18, you can still use the Site, but please read these Terms with a parent, carer, tutor or trusted adult. Where you are using the Site as part of an apprenticeship or course, your training provider or employer may also have responsibilities relating to your use.

2.3 If you use the Site on behalf of an organisation, you confirm that you have authority to bind that organisation to these Terms.

3. Accounts and the Learner Portal

3.1 Some parts of the Site, including the Learner Portal, require an account. We, or your training provider, may create the account for you.

3.2 You must:

• provide accurate and up-to-date information;
• keep your login details confidential and not share them with anyone else;
• tell us immediately at admin@supportconnect.org.uk if you think your account has been accessed without your permission; and
• log out at the end of each session when using a shared or public device.

3.3 You are responsible for all activity that takes place under your account unless you have told us it has been compromised.

3.4 We may suspend or close an account if we reasonably believe these Terms have been breached, if the account has been inactive for an extended period, or where you are no longer eligible for our services (for example, because your apprenticeship or programme has ended).

4. Our services and what the Site is (and is not)

4.1 The Site provides information about, and access to, our learning support services, including assessment of need, support plans, assistive technology and equipment, and specialist learning mentoring and wellbeing support.

4.2 The information on the Site is for general guidance only. It is not medical, clinical, legal or financial advice, and it should not be used as a substitute for advice from a qualified professional.

4.3 Screening tools. Any neurodiversity screening or similar tool made available through or linked from the Site is indicative only. It is not a diagnosis. A formal diagnosis can only be made by a suitably qualified professional. Results are used to help identify possible support needs and next steps.

4.4 Mentoring and wellbeing support. Our learning and wellbeing mentors are not clinicians, therapists or counsellors, and our mentoring and wellbeing support is not medical treatment, therapy or counselling. Where you need clinical or therapeutic support, we can help signpost you to appropriate services.

4.5 Emergencies. The Site and our services are not an emergency service. If you or someone else is in immediate danger or crisis, call 999. For urgent mental health support in the UK you can contact your GP, call NHS 111, or contact Samaritans on 116 123 (free, 24 hours).

5. Acceptable use

5.1 You agree to use the Site only for lawful purposes and in a way that does not infringe the rights of, or restrict or inhibit the use of the Site by, anyone else.

5.2 You must not:

• provide false, misleading or fraudulent information, or impersonate any person or organisation;
• access, or attempt to access, another user's account or information;
• upload or transmit any virus, malware or other harmful or disruptive code;
• attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Site, our servers, or any connected systems or networks;
• probe, scan or test the vulnerability of the Site, or bypass security or authentication measures, without our prior written permission;
• use automated tools (such as bots, scrapers or crawlers) to access or extract data from the Site, except for standard search engine indexing;
• submit content that is unlawful, defamatory, discriminatory, harassing, abusive, threatening, obscene or otherwise offensive;
• use the Site to send unsolicited commercial communications or spam; or
• use the Site in any way that could damage, disable, overburden or impair it.

5.3 We may investigate and take appropriate action if you breach this section, including suspending your access, removing content and, where appropriate, reporting the matter to the relevant authorities.

6. Information you provide

6.1 When you submit information to us through the Site (for example via a contact form, referral, assessment or the Learner Portal), you confirm that it is accurate and that you are entitled to provide it.

6.2 You may share information about your health, disability or learning needs with us. This is "special category" personal data under data protection law and we handle it with particular care. How we collect, use, store and share personal data is explained in our Privacy Policy. Where our services are funded or commissioned by your training provider, employer or another body, we may share relevant information with them as set out in the Privacy Policy and in any consent you have given.

6.3 Safeguarding. If we believe that you or someone else is at risk of harm, we may share relevant information with appropriate people or organisations (for example your training provider, employer, GP, the emergency services or the local safeguarding authority) without your consent, where the law allows this and in line with our Safeguarding Policy.

6.4 Please do not include sensitive personal information about other people in general enquiry forms unless it is necessary and you have the right to share it.

7. Intellectual property

7.1 The Site and all content on it, including text, graphics, logos, images, videos, resources, software and the selection and arrangement of them, are owned by or licensed to Support Connect and are protected by copyright, trade mark and other intellectual property laws. All rights are reserved.

7.2 You may view, download and print content from the Site for your own personal, non-commercial use, or for your organisation's internal use in connection with our services, provided that you keep all copyright and other proprietary notices intact.

7.3 You must not copy, reproduce, republish, sell, licence, distribute or create derivative works from any part of the Site, or use our name or logos, without our prior written permission.

7.4 Third-party names, logos and trade marks (including those of our partners and the organisations we work with) belong to their respective owners. Their appearance on the Site does not grant you any right to use them.

8. Links to other websites and third-party services

8.1 The Site contains links to third-party websites and services (including partner organisations and screening tools). We do not control these sites and are not responsible for their content, availability, security or privacy practices. Your use of them is at your own risk and subject to their own terms and policies.

8.2 A link to a third-party site does not mean we endorse it or the organisation behind it.

8.3 If you wish to link to the Site, you may link to the homepage or other public pages in a fair and legal way that does not damage our reputation or suggest any association, endorsement or approval that does not exist.

9. Accessibility

9.1 We are committed to making the Site accessible to as many people as possible, and we are a Disability Confident Committed employer. We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard where reasonably practicable.

9.2 If you have difficulty accessing any part of the Site or need information in a different format, please contact us at admin@supportconnect.org.uk or 01905 427815 and we will do our best to help.

10. Availability and changes to the Site

10.1 We aim to keep the Site available and secure, but we do not guarantee that it will be uninterrupted, error-free or free from viruses or other harmful components. We may suspend, withdraw or change all or part of the Site at any time, for example for maintenance, security or operational reasons.

10.2 We will try to give reasonable notice of planned downtime where we can, but we are not liable if the Site is unavailable at any time or for any period.

10.3 You are responsible for ensuring that your device, software and internet connection are suitable and secure for accessing the Site.

11. Our liability

11.1 Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for:

• death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
• fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
• any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under the laws of England and Wales.

11.2 Subject to clause 11.1, and to the extent permitted by law:

• the Site and its content are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, and we give no warranty that the information on the Site is complete, accurate or up to date;
• we are not liable for any loss or damage arising from your use of, or inability to use, the Site, or from reliance on its content, including any loss of profit, revenue, business, data or goodwill, or any indirect or consequential loss; and
• we are not liable for loss or damage caused by viruses, cyber-attacks or other technologically harmful material that may infect your equipment or data as a result of using the Site, unless caused by our failure to take reasonable care.

11.3 Where you are a consumer, nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights, including those under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

11.4 Where you are a business user, our total aggregate liability to you arising out of or in connection with your use of the Site, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise, is limited to £1000.00. Liability for the services we provide under a separate agreement is governed by that agreement.

12. Your responsibility for misuse

12.1 If you breach these Terms and that breach causes us loss or damage (including from any claim by a third party), you agree to compensate us for that loss or damage to the extent permitted by law. This clause does not apply to consumers in any way that would be unfair or contrary to consumer protection law.

13. Suspension and termination

13.1 We may suspend or terminate your access to the Site, with or without notice, if you breach these Terms or if we reasonably consider it necessary to protect the Site, other users or Support Connect.

13.2 You may stop using the Site at any time. If you have an account and would like it closed, please contact us at admin@supportconnect.org.uk. Closing your account does not delete the records we are required to keep under our Privacy Policy. We keep these records for 5 years, as explained in that policy.

13.3 Clauses that by their nature should continue after termination (including those on intellectual property, liability and governing law) will remain in effect.

14. Changes to these Terms

14.1 We may update these Terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes in the law or in our services. The "Last updated" date at the top shows when they were last revised.

14.2 The updated Terms apply from the date they are published. By continuing to use the Site after that date, you accept the updated Terms. We will take reasonable steps to notify registered users of any significant changes.

15. General

15.1 Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy and any separate service agreement, form the entire agreement between you and us about your use of the Site.

15.2 Severability. If any part of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full effect.

15.3 No waiver. If we do not enforce a right under these Terms straight away, that does not mean we have given it up.

15.4 Assignment. You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our written consent. We may transfer ours to another organisation if we reasonably consider your rights will not be affected.

15.5 Third-party rights. A person who is not a party to these Terms has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of them.

16. Complaints and feedback

16.1 If you have a complaint about the Site or our services, please contact us at admin@supportconnect.org.uk or on 01905 427815, and we will aim to respond promptly and fairly.

17. Governing law and jurisdiction

17.1 These Terms, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or the Site (including non-contractual disputes), are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

17.2 The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction, except that if you are a consumer living in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings in the courts of those countries.