Terms of Service for BridgeNL

These terms govern the use of the https://bridgenl.co.uk, managed by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL), registered as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), with charity no. SC041224 is dedicated to fostering collaboration among North Lanarkshire’s Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS), residents, public sector, and partners. By using the BridgeNL online platform, you agree to these terms with VANL.

VANL may offer other services under different terms. These terms apply solely to the use of the BridgeNL online platform.

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Important Terms

These terms include provisions that affect your legal rights and responsibilities, including disclaimers in Disclaimers, limits on VANL’s liability in Limits on Liability, your agreement to indemnify VANL for damages caused by misuse in Your Responsibility, and an agreement to resolve disputes under Scottish law in Disputes.

Your Permission to Use the Platform

Subject to these terms, VANL grants you a non-exclusive, revocable license to use the BridgeNL online platform for community collaboration, in accordance with the North Lanarkshire CommUnity Agreement, Appreciative Inquiry principles and the BridgeNL Code of Conduct. You must agree to these terms to access and participate in the platform.

Conditions for Use of the Platform

Your permission to use the BridgeNL platform is subject to the following conditions:

  1. Account Creation: To create an account and participate in interactive features (e.g., posting, liking, voting), you must be at least 16 years old, in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018 (GDPR), which requires parental consent for processing personal data of users under 16.
  2. Public Access: No minimum age applies to viewing public content (e.g., CVS event posters, activities, services) without logging in, provided no personal data is processed. BridgeNL minimises non-essential cookies for non-logged-in users to ensure GDPR compliance, and content adheres to family-friendly standards per the BridgeNL Code of Conduct.
  3. You may not use the platform if VANL, the BridgeNL Administrator, or the System directly notifies you (via email or platform message) that your access is suspended or revoked.
  4. You must comply with the Acceptable Use and Content Standards sections, as well as the BridgeNL Code of Conduct, when interacting with the platform.

Acceptable Use

To maintain a respectful and collaborative community, you agree to the following:

  1. You may not use the platform to engage in activities that violate UK or Scottish law, including the Data Protection Act 2018, Computer Misuse Act 1990, or Communications Act 2003 (e.g., publishing, or sending offensive or harassing communications).
  2. You may not access or attempt to access another user’s account without their explicit permission.
  3. You may not buy, sell, or trade usernames or other unique identifiers on the platform.
  4. You may not sell, redistribute, or use for any commercial purpose the content of other users or any materials found on the platform. This restriction applies equally to all visitors and registered users.
  5. You may not send advertisements, chain letters, or unsolicited promotions, or collect personal data (e.g., email addresses) for commercial purposes without consent, per GDPR requirements.
  6. You may not use automated tools (e.g., bots, web crawlers) to access or monitor the platform, except to index it for a publicly available search engine you operate, provided it complies with platform rate limits.
  7. You may not use the platform to send bulk emails to distribution lists or group aliases.
  8. You may not falsely claim affiliation with or endorsement by VANL, BridgeNL, or North Lanarkshire CVS staff, volunteers, groups and organisations.
  9. You may not hyperlink to non-text content (e.g., images) on the platform from external websites.
  10. You may not remove proprietary marks (e.g., copyright notices) from materials downloaded from the platform.
  11. You may not embed platform content on external websites using <iframe> without the explicit written permission.
  12. You may not republish or redistribute platform content, including in newsletters or other publications, without the explicit written permission.
  13. You may not bypass security measures or access restrictions, per the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
  14. You may not overload the platform’s infrastructure with excessive requests or malicious traffic.
  15. You may not impersonate others, including staff or volunteers, on the platform.
  16. You may not encourage or assist others in violating these terms or the BridgeNL Code of Conduct.

Content Standards

Content submitted to BridgeNL must align with the platform’s collaborative ethos and UK law:

  1. You may not submit content that is illegal, offensive, harassing, abusive, or constitutes hate speech under UK law (e.g., Equality Act 2010).
  2. You may not submit content that infringes intellectual property rights, violates privacy (per GDPR), or breaches agreements with others.
  3. You may not submit content containing malicious code (e.g., viruses, spyware) that could harm the platform or users.
  4. You may not post placeholder content to reserve usernames, addresses, or identifiers.
  5. You may not disclose sensitive, confidential or personal information (e.g., mailing lists, general organisational data, or personal data) on the BridgeNL in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

Enforcement

VANL may investigate and take action against violations of these terms, including co-operation with law enforcement under UK law (e.g., Police (Scotland) Act 1967). Actions may include content removal, account suspension, or reporting illegal activity.

If you believe content violates these terms or the BridgeNL Code of Conduct, use the platform’s flag feature or contact VANL at info@vanl.co.uk. VANL reserves the right to redact, modify, or delete content and accounts for any reason, without prior notice, in accordance with its policies.

Your Account

To access certain BridgeNL categories and features (e.g., posting, liking, or voting), you must create and log into an account. New personal accounts are created by invitation only, issued by VANL to ensure a secure and collaborative community.

  • Account Creation: Provide a valid email address (e.g., lowercase, e.g., “name.surname@organisation_domain.co.uk”), not a personal email.
  • Account Information You may update your profile using “Profile” available when clicking on your profile image and clicking Profile. There are number of fields that can be used, including About me, Location, Website, Profile Header and User Card Background and Featured Topic. For safety reasons job title is placed under “Account” and can be only assigned by the system administrator or moderator. This is by design to maintain a level of trust and authority within the community.
  • Account Closure: You may close your account by emailing info@vanl.co.uk. This is to prevent accidental account closure.
  • Security: You are responsible for all actions taken via your account until it is closed or you notify VANL of a compromise. Use a strong, unique password and report suspected breaches immediately, per the Stay Safe Online rule in the Code of Conduct.
  • Account Restrictions: VANL may suspend or close your account for violating these terms, handling copyright takedown requests (per Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988), or failing to comply with GDPR or the Code of Conduct.

Your Content

  • Ownership: You and/or your organisation, or group retain copyright ownership of content you submit to BridgeNL (e.g., posts, posters, information), as outlined in the Code of Conduct. VANL claims no ownership of your intellectual property.
  • Publishing: You can publish information and files created by you, or your organisation, on events, activities and services. If you have permission, you can also take part in conversations in restricted categories.
  • Republishing: You are not allowed to republish information from another source 1:1 (scraping). This can be done only when you use a “share” or “embed” button, which shows a small blurb with a link with a small piece of code in the background that directs users to the original post on the social media platform or a website. The content remains hosted on the social media company’s servers or website.
  • License: By posting, you grant VANL a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual license to use, display, distribute, and promote your content within the platform and VANL’s social media and website for community engagement, in line with the Bridge Framework collaborative goals. This license allows VANL to feature content in updates or share it with users (e.g., highlighting a post from local organisations, on VANL’s social media).
  • Content Removal: When content is removed (by you or VANL), the license ends once all copies are cleared from backups, caches, and systems. Other licenses (e.g., Creative Commons) you apply may persist, allowing others to share your content.
  • Responsibility: You are solely responsible for ensuring your content complies with UK law (e.g., Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, GDPR) and does not infringe on others’ rights. VANL is not liable for violations by others who receive your content. Please check your content before publishing.

Your Responsibility

You agree to indemnify VANL, its staff, volunteers, and affiliates from legal claims, damages, and expenses (including legal fees) that arise from your breach of these terms or the BridgeNL Code of Conduct, or breaches by others using your account.

Both parties agree to promptly notify each other of any claim that may require indemnification under this clause. You agree to co-operate fully with VANL in the investigation, defence, and settlement of such claims. While VANL reserves the right to control the defence of any claim, it will do so with a view to protecting the interests of both parties. VANL will not settle any claim that admits your fault or imposes obligations on you without your prior consent, unless such consent is unreasonably withheld.

Disclaimers

You use the BridgeNL platform and its content at your own risk. As permitted by UK law, VANL provides the platform “as is” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose.

VANL does not guarantee that the platform will be available uninterrupted or error-free. The platform may be unavailable for scheduled maintenance, security updates, or due to unforeseen technical issues.

The platform may link to or integrate external services (e.g., social media, charity websites and groups). VANL does not warrant the accuracy, reliability, or safety of external content or services, which may have separate terms.

Limits on Liability

VANL does not endorse or take responsibility for any content submitted by users on the BridgeNL platform. The views and opinions expressed in user-generated content are those of the individual users and do not necessarily reflect the views of VANL, its staff, volunteers, or its affiliates. Users are solely responsible for their interactions with other users and for the content they submit. VANL is not liable for any loss or damage arising from the visitor’s or reader’s reliance on user-generated content or from the conduct of other users.

VANL and its affiliates will not be liable for breach-of-contract damages that could not have been reasonably foreseen when you agreed to these terms.

VANL is not financially responsible for claims arising from user-generated content or third-party actions on the BridgeNL platform. To the extent permitted by UK law, VANL’s total liability for claims directly related to the platform’s operation or its content is limited to £1.

Feedback

VANL welcomes feedback to improve BridgeNL, aligning with the Code of Conduct’s Appreciative Inquiry ethos. Submit feedback via the email info@vanl.co.uk.

You agree that VANL may use your feedback without notifying you, obtaining further permission, or providing compensation. Do not submit confidential or proprietary feedback.

Termination

You or VANL may terminate this agreement at any time. Termination ends your permission to use the platform.

The following provisions survive termination: Your Content, Feedback, Your Responsibility, Disclaimers, Limits on Liability, and General Terms.

Disputes

Informal Resolution: In the event of any dispute, disagreement, or claim related to these terms or your use of the platform, you and VANL agree to first attempt to resolve the matter informally. You should contact the BridgeNL administrators or VANL via the email provided, schedule an appointment, or a phone call to discuss the issue in good faith. We agree that this step is a prerequisite to any formal legal action, including arbitration.

These terms and your use of the BridgeNL platform are governed by Scottish law, reflecting the platform’s operation in North Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Formal Resolution: You and VANL agree to seek injunctions related to these terms only in courts in Scotland. Neither party will object to jurisdiction, forum, or venue in those courts.

For disputes other than injunctions, you and VANL agree to resolve matters through binding arbitration under the Scottish Arbitration Centre’s rules, following the Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010. Arbitration will occur in Glasgow, Scotland, as an individual proceeding, not a class action. The arbitrator’s award will include arbitration costs, reasonable legal fees, and witness expenses, and may be enforced in any court with jurisdiction.

General Terms

If a provision of these terms is unenforceable under Scottish law, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or removed if modification is not possible.

You may not assign your agreement with VANL. VANL commits that it will not sell, transfer, or assign this agreement or the platform’s assets to any entity. If, for any reason, a successor entity assumes control of the platform, it will be under the strict condition that the platform’s use will remain perpetually free for its existing and new users and exclusively for staff, volunteers and organisations working in North Lanarkshire, with no rights to use it outside of North Lanarkshire. Any unauthorised or contrary assignment is void.

Neither the exercise of rights nor waiver of breaches under these terms waives other breaches. These terms constitute the entire agreement between you and VANL regarding platform use, superseding all prior agreements, written or oral.

Contact

Notify VANL or send questions to info@vanl.co.uk.

VANL may notify you via your account’s email address, posts on the platform homepage, or your account page.

Changes

VANL last updated these terms on 4 September 2025. Updates will be posted on the platform. For significant changes, VANL will email registered users with valid email addresses (e.g., “@vanl.co.uk”) and may post alerts on the platform.

You must agree to the updated terms to continue using BridgeNL after receiving notice of changes.