Safeguarding statement and information | District Dave's London Underground Site

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Safeguarding statement and information May 4, 2018 20:27:22 GMT jimini, Colin D, and 13 more like this

Post by Admin Team on May 4, 2018 20:27:22 GMT

Members should be aware that a convicted paedophile recently applied to join the forum.

Membership of the forum has always been ‘closed’ in that any application has to be approved by a member of staff before anyone can post. Part of this process is to have some sort of internet trail: while we do not wish to pry into people’s lives nor collect unnecessary information, equally we have a responsibility to other members and also to London Underground to make the Forum a safe, friendly and responsible place. We do not want people who cause trouble or other undesirables trying to find out information which would not normally be in the public domain. Over the years we have had everything from graffiti artists to people with exceedingly sinister motives applying to be on the forum and we hope that, by and large, we have been successful at keeping these people away.

Additionally, forum staff are all aware of safeguarding issues: many work, or have worked, in the transport industry and are DBS checked, others work in areas such as education and the healthcare industry where the safeguarding training they both receive and give to others, is to a very high level. At forum socials, for example, while we positively welcome members who are under 18 years of age to attend, we also encourage them to bring an adult with them and also to have on them an emergency contact number. On the Forum itself the names of forum staff, both Admins and Mods, are prominently stated at the top of each page and any of one of them can be contacted at any time in case of any concerns.

Regarding the individual involved, obviously everyone has a right to live a normal life after they have served their conviction. However, this person will remain on the Sex Offenders’ Register and as there are lots of members under the age of 18, we do not feel that the Forum is an appropriate place to be and thus we have not accepted his membership application.

Through our research, however, we found this particular person, before his conviction, used to be a member of the Forum and was ‘pruned’ after a lengthy period of absence, presumably while he was serving his custodial sentence. His time here was relatively short and he had fewer than 20 posts, several of which were guesses on the quiz. There is no evidence to suggest that he did anything untoward here.

While inappropriate behaviour has not been reported to Forum staff, we cannot see the contents of PM messages. Should any member feel that they have anything to report or any other specific safeguarding concerns regarding this or any other member, they are welcome to contact any member of Forum staff or, if appropriate, a relevant authority such as the police.

In general we would advise that young people in particular are aware of general internet safety advice. This advice is regularly taught in schools and colleges - for example, not giving out personal information to strangers, having a username which is not related to your real name and not meeting anyone in real life without being accompanied or letting a responsible adult know your intentions in advance. For more information, the Think U Know website has lots of information and advice: www.thinkuknow.co.uk

We thank Forum members in advance for their understanding and equally hope that they understand the reasoning behind the measures that we put in place before accepting new applications. This thread will remain locked but if members have any questions then please contact an Administrator in the first instance.

Last Edit: Nov 27, 2018 12:46:22 GMT by Admin Team

Admin Team
Administrator

Posts: 1,144

Safeguarding statement and information Nov 27, 2018 12:51:10 GMT antharro, Chris W, and 3 more like this

Post by Admin Team on Nov 27, 2018 12:51:10 GMT

Safeguarding statement

District Dave’s Forum is a place for people with an interest in different aspects of London Underground to discuss a wide range of topics related to LU. Members range from 13-year olds (Proboards Terms of Service prevent members applying until that point) right up to people in their 80s and beyond. Clearly the forum has a duty of care towards these younger members and similarly to vulnerable adults. The Forum, therefore, has in place a number of measures which are designed to safeguard these groups of people.

Application
District Dave’s Forum is a ‘closed’ Forum, in that a member has to be approved by a member of Forum Staff in order to join and therefore post. Proboards, the company which hosts the Forum, provides staff members with some information from anyone who has applied for membership. This includes their username, registered email address and their IP address. Where needed, Forum Staff will then request additional information in order to be as confident as possible that the applicant is an appropriate person to join the Forum. This may involve, for example, asking an applicant via the Forum email account about their interest in London Underground and to provide some evidence of long-standing internet history, for example, a link to a social media account or membership of another forum. If the Forum Staff are happy that the account is in good order, the applicant is admitted. More information about this process is given in our Application Process and Use of Data page.

Using the information provided Forum Staff will do their best to filter out anyone whose membership may be incompatible with either the Forum Rules or forum spirit.

Day-to-day use of the Forum
There are approximately ten Moderators and five Administrators on the Forum who will read the most recent posts and threads and their job is primarily to ensure the safe and friendly running of the forum. Where this does not happen, a member of Forum staff may take a variety of actions, including removing a post, giving a member words of advice relating to their conduct or posting or, in more serious cases, suspend a member. Forum administrators have the power to suspend permanently any member whose behaviour or posts are not compatible with the Forum Rules.

However, Forum Staff inevitably can not always be online and so it is the duty of all forum members to report anything If anyone is uncomfortable with the behaviour or postings of any member, either in a safeguarding sense or not. A good rule of thumb for this is if you are pondering whether to report something or not, this is usually something to report. We would encourage members in the first instance to get in touch by PM with any member of Forum Staff. These are always listed at the top of every page of the Forum and clicking on their names will take you through to the PM (private message) facility.

Private Messages
While the Forum is designed to encourage open dialogue and discussion, there is a PM (private message) facility where members, either individually or in groups, can communicate with each other in a private way. Forum staff do not have access to PMs. Again, if any member feels that another member is communicating with them in an inappropriate way you should report it to a member of Forum Staff immediately.

Awareness of Safeguarding issues
Forum Staff make new members aware of this statement in their introductory email. Additionally Forum Staff encourage existing members to familiarise themselves with important Forum guidelines, such as rules, the use of personal data and this safeguarding statement by making a posting about it in the open forum around once a year.

Forum Socials
While members are obviously free to meet each other on a private basis, the Forum normally holds one or two social events a year. These are an opportunity for members to meet each other and to discuss their shared interest in a convivial environment. Obviously some members who are under eighteen years of age may wish to attend these social events. In order to facilitate a safe environment a number of measures are put in place:

The time, date and location of the meeting is advertised several weeks in advance
A mobile phone number is provided in case of any difficulties finding the location
Various members of the Forum Staff are DBS checked, either in their capacity of working for London Underground or in other professions, such as education or healthcare.
Under 18s are encouraged to tell their parents or guardians where they are going or, preferably, to bring them as well
Should a member under eighteen wish to attend alone, they are encouraged to bring details of an emergency contact with them
Normal rules of the Forum also apply to social events: it is expected that members should be friendly, polite and courteous to each other.

Last Edit: May 10, 2020 18:30:49 GMT by londonstuff

Admin Team
Administrator

Posts: 1,144

Safeguarding statement and information Nov 27, 2018 12:56:14 GMT Colin D, Chris M, and 3 more like this

Post by Admin Team on Nov 27, 2018 12:56:14 GMT

The Forum Rules are currently being reviewed and during this process the Administrators felt it would be beneficial to all members to incorporate something regarding the Forum's awareness of safeguarding issues and how we are aware of the different needs of children and vulnerable adults who may be a member of this forum. This has led to the creation of a safeguarding statement where everything we do relating to this area can be documented in one place.

Any changes to this statement will be made within the statement itself with a separate post made explaining the changes, just like in the Forum Rules.

The thread will remain locked but any comments should be directed by PM to a Forum Administrator in the first instance.

Admin Team
Administrator

Posts: 1,144

Safeguarding statement and information Aug 6, 2019 8:36:47 GMT Colin D, superteacher, and 2 more like this

Post by Admin Team on Aug 6, 2019 8:36:47 GMT

Safeguarding update

Forum staff have been made aware by a member of the Forum that a paedophile has recently been convicted of viewing indecent images of children. This person’s interests lie in various forms of transport and are told that he was active in some online forums.

Having checked the details of his name, likely username and location, we deem it unlikely that this person is, or ever was, a member of District Dave’s Forum.

However, we would like to take the opportunity to remind everyone to be vigilant online and to report anything they are uncomfortable with.

More information on this can be found in the Forum’s Safeguarding statement within this thread or specifically here, which we encourage every member to read. This thread will remain locked but please contact a Forum Admin in the first instance in the case of any questions.

Last Edit: Aug 6, 2019 8:40:14 GMT by Admin Team

Admin Team
Administrator

Posts: 1,144

Safeguarding statement and information May 10, 2020 18:50:05 GMT

Post by Admin Team on May 10, 2020 18:50:05 GMT

The Forum Staff review our policies and rules on at least an annual basis. We have reviewed the Safeguarding Statement which we felt required very little change.

We have clarified our processes in the Application section, though more detail can be found in the 'Application Process and Use of Data' statement.

Admin Team
Administrator

Posts: 1,144

Safeguarding statement and information Jan 20, 2021 23:33:27 GMT Tom, DWS, and 14 more like this

Post by Admin Team on Jan 20, 2021 23:33:27 GMT

Forum Staff tonight became aware that a former member of the Forum was convicted in 2016 of sexual offences involving children under the age of 16. This particular member was a member for several months in 2014 and was a prolific poster before being permanently banned later that year. While he gave the impression to Forum Staff of being a curious individual even without knowing this new information, there is nothing to suggest that anything similar to these offences took place on or through the Forum.

As some background information to the forum which newer members may be unaware, membership of the forum has always been ‘closed’ in that any application has to be approved by a member of staff before anyone can post or see the restricted areas of the forum. Part of this process is to have some sort of internet trail: while we do not wish to pry into people’s lives nor collect unnecessary information, equally we have a responsibility to other members and also to London Underground to make the Forum a safe, friendly and responsible place. We do not want people who cause trouble or other undesirables trying to find out information which would not normally be in the public domain. Over the years we have had everything from graffiti artists to people with exceedingly sinister motives applying to be on the forum and we hope that, by and large, we have been successful at keeping these people away.

Additionally, forum staff are all aware of safeguarding issues: many work, or have worked, in the transport industry and are DBS checked, others work in areas such as education and the pharmaceutical industry where the safeguarding training they both receive and give to others, is to a very high level. At forum socials, for example, while we positively welcome members who are under 18 years of age to attend, we also encourage them to bring an adult with them and also to have on them an emergency contact number.

On the Forum itself the usernames of forum staff, both Admins and Mods, are prominently stated and any of one of them can be contacted at any time in case of any concerns. Should any member feel that they have anything to report or any other specific safeguarding concerns regarding this or any other member, they are welcome to contact any member of Forum staff or, if appropriate, a relevant authority such as the police. All members here are encouraged to read the Forum’s Safeguarding statement.

Regarding the individual involved, obviously everyone has a right to live a normal life after they have served their conviction. However, in this particular case, the individual’s behaviour continues to cause alarm to others in the wider community on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, hence us bringing it to the attention of all Forum members.

In general we would advise that young people in particular are aware of general internet safety advice. This advice is regularly taught in schools and colleges - for example, not giving out personal information to strangers, having a username which is not related to your real name and not meeting anyone in real life without being accompanied or letting a responsible adult know your intentions in advance. For more information, the Think U Know website has lots of information and advice: www.thinkuknow.co.uk

We thank Forum members in advance for their understanding and equally hope that they understand the reasoning behind the measures that we put in place before accepting new applications.