This Code of Conduct is for Members engaged in activities of Presence

At Presence we work hard to support people’s relaxation, identify personal goals and aspirations wherever possible. Sometimes we may not be able to support specific needs, and will suggest alternative options to those individuals.

The purpose of this code of conduct is to tell you about how we expect our members to engage while using our services.

By “member” we mean a user of our services.

Expected conduct:

• Behaviour which is mutually supportive; we have a duty of care for members which supercedes confidentialty only in the unlikely situation where someone is a risk to themselves or others
• Treating everything said within sessions as confidential, not to be written or repeated elsewhere without the consent of all parties involved
• To respect the privacy of the participants and the session leaders, including avoiding capturing images, chats or recordings of sessions
• Appropriate and respectful behaviour and language towards fellow members and the Presence team
• Tempered verbal language and earnest displays of mood that are not threatening to others
• Respectful written communication, in Zoom chats, emails, social media comments, texts/voicemail
• Respectful comments regarding the Presence programme, team and organisation on linked and private social media channels
• Tolerance of others’ different beliefs, philosophies and life-choices
• To be declarative to the session leader when other’s conduct negatively impacts your experience, but leave moderation of others’ conduct to the Presence team
• To arrive at Presence sessions in a timely manner wherever possible
• To avoid being under the influence of anything other than prescribed drugs during Presence Sessions

What happens if someone ignores or breaks the code?

Should any of the above occur related to Presence Sessions we reserve the right to to take the necessary action including removing members from sessions, removing membership through to contacting the appropriate authorities. Actions taken will be as follows:

• In cases where the unacceptable behaviour is considered to be a serious and potentially a criminal matter, the concerns will in the first instance be referred to the Police. This will include any or all cases of violence or threats of violence. This will also include anything that could be seen as a sign of harassment of any member of the Presence membership, such as any form of insulting social media post or any form of social media cyber bullying.
• In cases where evidence suggests that behaviour would be tantamount to libel or slander, then Presence Sessions will refer the matter to its legal advisers for further action.
• In cases where the code of conduct has been broken but the breach was not libellous, slanderous or a criminal matter, then Presence will send out a formal communcation to the member with an invitation to a meeting to discuss and resolve the issue.

In all cases the member considered to be breaking the code will be temporarily suspended from participating in all Presence activities until the matter is resolved.

Sometimes misunderstandings happen. If you have any concerns or you are not happy about something then please speak to a member of the team.

Thank you for abiding by this code. Together we can create a positive environment not only for Presence members but for the Presence team too.