Community & Safety Rules and Safeguarding Policy

Adopted: 29 August 2026 · Reviewed annually

Brave Homes Community Interest Company — company number 17348356 — 147 Benhurst Avenue, Hornchurch, England, RM12 4QN.

1. Purpose

Brave Homes is a communication platform for adults aged 18 and over, anywhere in the world. This policy sets out the rules every member must follow, how to report a concern, and what we do when one is raised.

No organisation can prevent wrongdoing before it happens, and Brave Homes does not claim to. Responsibility for a member’s conduct lies with that member alone. Our role is to reduce the opportunity for harm through verification, make wrongdoing visible through reporting, and act decisively after a concern is raised.

2. Safeguarding Lead

Safeguarding is led by the Director of Brave Homes Community Interest Company. Contact: safeguarding@bravehomes.co.uk. If a concern involves the Safeguarding Lead, report it directly to the police or your local adult safeguarding authority. In an emergency, contact your local emergency services (999 in the UK, 112 in Europe, 911 in the US and Canada).

3. Member verification

• All members: email verification and an 18+ age check (a live selfie assessed by our verification partner, with an identity document as a fallback).
• Members arranging to meet in person: photographic identity verification (an identity document plus a live selfie, completed on the member’s phone).

Verification confirms identity. It does not guarantee anyone’s character or conduct.

4. Community rules

Members must never:

• ask for, accept or offer money, loans, gifts, cards, PINs or bank details;
• ask about another member’s savings, pension, benefits, property or will;
• ask a member to keep the friendship secret from family or carers;
• send sexual, threatening or abusive content;
• record a call without consent;
• misrepresent their identity or age;
• collect a member from, or visit, their home before a first meeting in a public place.

Breach results in immediate suspension pending investigation, and permanent removal where the breach is confirmed.

5. Reporting a concern

Anyone — a member, a family member, a carer — can report a concern at safeguarding@bravehomes.co.uk or through the report button on the Platform. Reports may be made anonymously. Reports are read every working day. If someone is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services first.

6. What we do with a concern

1. Safety first. Immediate danger goes to the emergency services, not to us.
2. Suspend. The reported account is suspended as soon as reasonably practicable. Suspension is not a finding of guilt.
3. Record. The date, the concern in the reporter’s own words, and the action taken. Records are kept securely for 7 years.
4. Refer. Where we reasonably believe an adult at risk has been abused, or a crime has been committed, we report to the police and, in the UK, to the relevant local authority adult safeguarding team, without delay.
5. Decide. Permanent removal, reinstatement, or no further action — with the reason recorded.
6. Cooperate. We do not investigate crimes; the police do. We preserve messages, call logs and account data and hand them over on lawful request.

7. People working for Brave Homes

Anyone working for Brave Homes with access to member data completes safeguarding awareness training, signs this policy, and reports concerns to the Safeguarding Lead the same day.

8. Review

This policy is reviewed every 12 months and after any serious incident.

See also our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.