Staying safe

We connect people. We are not an agency, we do not employ or vet the people who help, and we do not supervise what happens once two people are in touch. The groups are neighbours helping neighbours, which is their strength and their limit.

So: satisfy yourself about anyone you are about to meet, to whatever extent makes you comfortable. Nobody will think less of you for asking questions first.

• Tell someone you trust where you are going and when you expect to be back.
• Meet somewhere public the first time where that is possible at all.
• Bring someone with you if it is a home visit and you would rather not be alone.
• You can stop at any point, for any reason or none. You never owe an explanation.

Never arrange to be alone with someone else's child. Deliveries to a family with children should be to an adult, at the door. Anyone under 18 who wants to volunteer at an event is welcome with a parent or guardian.

If you are ever worried that a child or an adult at risk is being harmed, contact the local authorities first. Then tell us, so we can act on our side too.

Nobody from All Things Chessed will ever ask you to send money to an individual's personal account, buy gift cards, or move money on behalf of someone in a group. If you are asked to do any of that, it is not us — please tell us immediately.

Donations only ever go through the channels listed on our own donate page. If a message asks you to pay somewhere else, stop and check with us first.

The groups are large. Assume anything posted can be forwarded anywhere, because it can. Before posting about someone else, ask whether they would want their situation described to hundreds of people who know their neighbourhood.

• No surnames, addresses or hospital room numbers of the person being helped.
• No photographs of anyone who has not said yes — patients, children, families at their worst moment.
• No medical details beyond what someone actually needs in order to help.
• No fundraising for anything we have not verified, however moving the story.

Nobody watches these groups around the clock. If someone is in danger, unwell, or at risk of harming themselves, call your local emergency number. Chessed comes after safety, not instead of it.

Tell us. Write to Hello@AllThingsChessed.org — behaviour that worried you, a request that felt wrong, someone using a group to take advantage of people. We take it seriously, we will keep it confidential, and we can remove someone from the network.

You will never be treated as a nuisance for raising something. The people who speak up are how a network like this stays safe.