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Community Check-In đ
ella
Posts: 485 Listening Ear
Hi everyone,
We understand that the previous thread about some new safeguarding policies generated a lot of strong emotions, including confusion, worry, and frustration. We want to honour these feelings let you you know they are valid- we know change can feel so overwhelming. We wanted to open up this thread so we can have some constructive conversations together about some of the worries that were raised this morning
A few important reminders:
Community Guidelines: It's not okay to post private Direct Messages (DMs) in public spaces.
Public Forum: Please remember that our community boards are public spaces. Sharing details about private, live, and ongoing safeguarding cases in a public setting is not safe so please be mindful about what you choose to share.
â
We know that there's been a lot of change at The Mix, including team changes and the merger with MHI. These changes havenât been easy and have led some of you to feel uncertain or anxious about the service. We want to assure you that we're navigating these changes alongside youâ this period of transition has been tricky for our team as well. With so many staff changes, we're all adjusting to new roles and responsibilities and only want to do whatsâs best for you all. It's all of us versus these challenges, not us versus each other
We hear your confusion around the current safeguarding policies and take accountability for the absence of communication around this. In light of this, we're organising a Safeguarding Q&A where you'll have the opportunity to "meet" The Mix and MHI safeguarding officers on the boards and ask them your questions directly.
To help our officers prepare, you can also pre-submit anonymous questions via this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSciKHfwEGmqXevpHmhHvsZaVTDgtqYf7K8HoOn9YPEgeXM91A/viewform
Weâll also be setting up a Safeguarding Glossary thread which will hopefully provide clear definitions of key terms and processes, such as "Position of Trust" and the procedures for contacting non-emergency and emergency services to avoid any confusion moving forward.
â
We want to emphasise that we encourage you to ask any questions you may have. While the previous thread was closed in line with our community guidelines, this was not intended to shut down the conversation or disempower anyone. We understand that there's a lot of panic and confusion, and we know that it can be especially difficult to navigate these issues when you're also dealing with other things outside of this forum. We truly want to listen to your opinions and welcome all your questions in this space.
We know there have been a lot of recent changes for all of us to process â staff changes, merging with MHI, and shifts in Safeguarding. It's a lot to take in, and it can feel unsettling.
We hear you, and you deserve clarity.
â
We hope this thread has been helpful in opening up a space for open and honest conversation. We value your presence on the community and will work together to create a safe, supportive and trusting space for everyone.
If you have questions about your own personal, ongoing safeguarding case, please DM us. We're working with the safeguarding team to get answers for you and will reply as quickly as possible.
We understand that the previous thread about some new safeguarding policies generated a lot of strong emotions, including confusion, worry, and frustration. We want to honour these feelings let you you know they are valid- we know change can feel so overwhelming. We wanted to open up this thread so we can have some constructive conversations together about some of the worries that were raised this morning
A few important reminders:
Community Guidelines: It's not okay to post private Direct Messages (DMs) in public spaces.
Public Forum: Please remember that our community boards are public spaces. Sharing details about private, live, and ongoing safeguarding cases in a public setting is not safe so please be mindful about what you choose to share.
â
We know that there's been a lot of change at The Mix, including team changes and the merger with MHI. These changes havenât been easy and have led some of you to feel uncertain or anxious about the service. We want to assure you that we're navigating these changes alongside youâ this period of transition has been tricky for our team as well. With so many staff changes, we're all adjusting to new roles and responsibilities and only want to do whatsâs best for you all. It's all of us versus these challenges, not us versus each other
We hear your confusion around the current safeguarding policies and take accountability for the absence of communication around this. In light of this, we're organising a Safeguarding Q&A where you'll have the opportunity to "meet" The Mix and MHI safeguarding officers on the boards and ask them your questions directly.
To help our officers prepare, you can also pre-submit anonymous questions via this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSciKHfwEGmqXevpHmhHvsZaVTDgtqYf7K8HoOn9YPEgeXM91A/viewform
Weâll also be setting up a Safeguarding Glossary thread which will hopefully provide clear definitions of key terms and processes, such as "Position of Trust" and the procedures for contacting non-emergency and emergency services to avoid any confusion moving forward.
â
We want to emphasise that we encourage you to ask any questions you may have. While the previous thread was closed in line with our community guidelines, this was not intended to shut down the conversation or disempower anyone. We understand that there's a lot of panic and confusion, and we know that it can be especially difficult to navigate these issues when you're also dealing with other things outside of this forum. We truly want to listen to your opinions and welcome all your questions in this space.
We know there have been a lot of recent changes for all of us to process â staff changes, merging with MHI, and shifts in Safeguarding. It's a lot to take in, and it can feel unsettling.
We hear you, and you deserve clarity.
â
We hope this thread has been helpful in opening up a space for open and honest conversation. We value your presence on the community and will work together to create a safe, supportive and trusting space for everyone.
If you have questions about your own personal, ongoing safeguarding case, please DM us. We're working with the safeguarding team to get answers for you and will reply as quickly as possible.
Post edited by Katie on
12
Comments
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iâm so grateful for the support that use provide us all with - all the staff and mods are amazingđ©·
People are rightfully scared of police and the impact a police call will have. If the mix keep any form of notes on individual people, they might know the reasons why - Iâm sure you know my own reasons for distrusting police. Itâs a shame that police, rather than healthcare professionals, are who all of these services (not just the mix but shout and others too) have to turn to - most arenât trained in any of this mental health stuff (appreciate itâs different for safeguarding).
Edited to say that it does raise questions around the mixâs role in historical abuse cases. Iâm not talking about ongoing abuse here, but someone who is now an adult disclosing that they were abused in childhood. This is not an emergency if theyâre out of the situation and many will feel uncomfortable reporting it for whatever reason, and putting pressure on these people to report can push them away from accessing support.
@Summerjune15 that might have been myself you were talking to about it. I do remember now so thanks for reminding me.
sending you hugs you can always msg me if you need anything
The site is annoymous and it should stay that way unless In life threatening 999 situation
i know you said youâre donât want to read the rules, however the confidentiality policy will clearly outline for you situations in which the mix will be required to tell someone what you have shared.
It was never the law before the merger. You could speak freely with the confidence that nothing would be shared unless in immediate danger. Now, issues are suppressed rather than talked about.
Itâs not about the law. Itâs about taking on SHOUTs confidentiality policy . A service which has absolutely terrible reviews. Itâs sad.
youâre completely entitled to your own opinion ofc but like all services, shout has both positive and negative reviews - the mix, childline, samaritans, lifeline and all the rest ALL have both positive and negative reviews.
So it canât be a law thing if shout donât
I appreciate you saying that my friend but V himself said that they are taking on the same confidentiality policy as shout. I specifically asked him. As they are now the same charity. So unless thatâs changed đ€·đŒââïž
That was not my opinion and I appreciate that all charities have positive and negative reviews. Iâve never used shout and never will. Reviews are easily accessed online and a lot are 1 star due to confidentiality being broken in situations they deemed unnecessary.
directly from the shout website it says: âWe take your confidentiality very seriously and your Shout conversations are confidential, unless we are concerned about your safety. If we think you or someone else is in immediate physical danger or that you or someone elseâs life is at imminent risk, we will try to work with you to form a safety plan. If this is not possible or if we think you are at risk of what are called âsafeguarding issuesâ (for example abuse or neglect), a Clinician (a qualified mental health professional) may share your details with the emergency services or appropriate authorities, including police, ambulance/medical and social services, in order to keep you (or anyone else) safe and as necessary to protect your vital interestsâ
i know in situations where i have had confidentiality broken, in that moment ive been scared, anxious and upset, i 9 out of 10 times have said there was absolutely no need for it to happen it was just silly but whenever time has went in and im in a better headspace i can see most the time why it happened and that there was actually a reason for it - im not saying thats how it is everytime, but realistically, there are people who have wrote reviews for shout, and other places that have maybe not been in the right headspace and as a result do not see it as a necessary response.
edit: added in directly from shout websiteđ
And I think when the mix realises they are doing more harm than good with this rule theyll soon switch it up
Iâll be interested to hear more about how itâs all going to work going forwards with the safeguarding people.
That said though, former is the key word here - I havenât been a volunteer since the merger and shout are asking all current volunteers to do further training, so I do appreciate that this may have changed.
Edited to add that the policies do now look mostly the same. I donât have access to the system anymore, but from my (admittedly very poor) memory and asking the mix, things appear to be the same between the 2 services.
Yes, please do feel very welcome to DM us and we can ensure your questions get passed on ASAP.