Confidentiality & Safeguarding Commitment
Legal Notice
Our commitment to confidentiality and respect for the experiences shared within our community sessions is paramount. We provide a safe and secure space for women to explore their origin stories and traditional practices. It is essential to note that the information shared during our sessions is strictly confidential, and we are dedicated to upholding this commitment before, during, and indefinitely after the sessions.
Our Approach to Privacy
At Ostara, we take privacy seriously. Our approach involves transparently disclosing how we collect, use, and manage the data shared with us during community sessions. When you submit a request to join, to book, or to subscribe to a newsletter, event or service, we must collect Personal Information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. We collect Personal Information such as name, email address, phone number, payment information (for Users with Paid Services), and information you include in your communications with us.
We are dedicated to safeguarding the privacy of our community members and ensuring that their Personal Information is protected with the utmost care and responsibility.
Key Elements of Our Commitment
Our commitment to privacy encompasses various aspects, including the transparent collection of information during community sessions, the purpose behind gathering specific data, our protocols for sharing information, and the measures in place to uphold the rights of our community members in accordance with relevant privacy laws and regulations.
Our Safeguarding Commitment
Ostara East CIC is committed to the safety and wellbeing of everyone who takes part in our circles, groups, and services. This statement explains how we approach safeguarding and the limits of confidentiality within our work.
Our spaces are built on trust, confidentiality, and mutual respect. What is shared within a circle stays within that circle. However, there are times when we may need to act outside of this confidentiality in order to keep someone safe.
When we may break confidentiality
We will only share information without your consent in the following circumstances:
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If we believe you are at risk of serious harm to yourself, and we judge that involving someone else is necessary to keep you safe. Where possible, we will first encourage and support you to make contact yourself.
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If you disclose harm, or risk of harm, to a child or to another vulnerable adult. In these circumstances we have a legal and ethical duty to act, which may include making a referral to children's social care, adult safeguarding services, or the police. This duty applies regardless of what else has been discussed or agreed, and cannot be overridden by a personal request for confidentiality.
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If we are required to do so by law.
Wherever it is safe and appropriate to do so, we will talk to you first about any concern and what happens next.
Trusted contacts
As part of joining our circles, we may ask whether there is someone you trust — a friend, family member, or your GP — who we could contact if we ever became seriously concerned for your safety and were unable to reach you, or felt we needed additional support to keep you safe. Naming a contact does not mean we will always contact them automatically; it gives us a starting point if a serious concern arises, and we will always use our professional judgement about whether and how to act, including if we have reason to think that contact may not be appropriate.
Who to contact
Our safeguarding lead is Annette MacKinley, who can be contacted at hello@ostaraeast.co.uk or 07523 154870. If you are worried about your own safety or someone else's and cannot reach us, please contact your GP, NHS 111, or in an emergency call 999.
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