We three each share values around inclusion, extending a warm welcome and nurturing each other and those around us

Read our mission statement and get to know us a little better. Access our diversity statement, terms and privacy policy, all designed to keep our work, your voices and interactions with us, safe.

We provide a cohesive voice to our community, covering topics that affect us.

The Full Stop Community CIC aims to bring connections those who identify as childless for any reason. We do this through our podcast and online community space. We champion our peers and our ethos is collaboration, not competition.

Every guest and each presenter, and where ever possible, our suppliers, are also childless to enable us to to identify with each other and assist those on their own path to acceptance.

We aim to provide accessible episodes for those who are childfree (by choice) and colleagues, family and friends of anyone who is childless not by choice. We welcome parents to our audience and aim to be informative so they can stand alongside us with more knowledge and understanding. Our Community is our safe space for childless not by choice designed to bring about connection, encouragement, shared interests and support.

We can learn together.

The Full Stop Community CIC is committed to creating a diverse environment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, or age.

The founders and directors are Berenice Howard-Smith and Sarah Lawrence (based in the UK) and Michael Hughes (based in Australia).

The Full Stop – Inclusion, Diversity and Equality (I,D&E) Statement

This document is a statement of The Full Stop understanding of inclusion, diversity, and equality and what the implications are for us. The definitions, the scope of the concepts, and the suggested implications based on our offering as a childless not by choice CIC.

CONTEXT

The Full Stop’s purpose is to develop, promote, and raise awareness of being childless not by choice globally for the benefit of those who are childless, our peers and society at large.  We recognise that there are different traditions, cultural practices, legal frameworks, and history within and between regions and countries.

We believe that the diversity is a major strength. And, by being more conscious regarding the implications of inclusion, diversity, and equality we will better serve our vision to make childless not by choice people feel better supported and enable those who do not identify as childless to learn from us and feel able to do so without exclusion,

DEFINITIONS

Inclusion, diversity, and equality, are different concepts. Inclusion, diversity, and equality can each be present, or missing in an organisation or team, independently of the other.

Inclusion is an emotion. Inclusion is affected when people feel respected, valued, trusted, safe, have a sense of belonging, and are able to be their best self.

Diversity is difference. Our differences as childless not by choice people include, but are not limited to, abilities, age, appearance, career, clothes, culture, disability, education, ethnicity, experience, gender, health, interests, marital status, nationality, non-parental status, philosophy, political views, religion, sexual identity, socio-economic background, thought processes, tribes and work experience. Some of these differences are permanent and some may change and shift over time. Our differences are what makes us unique.

Equality is treating everyone equally well. In practice this means that if we are to help individuals be, and do their best, we are likely to be treating everyone differently – if only slightly, because we are all unique. Treating everyone equally well, requires us to respond to people, having regard to their differences; not regardless of their differences.

 OUR VISION

Our vision is that the The Full Stop is an inclusive community in which every member feels respected, valued, trusted, safe, has a sense of belonging and can be their true self.

We will

  • Demystify childless not by choice myths with clarity.

  • Welcome all who identify as childless not by choice to our space.

  • To be more confident in demonstrating, through our work. that …

    • everybody matters

    • we are all different

    • diversity adds value

    • inclusion is an emotion

  • To learn from each other regarding the Inclusion, Diversity and Equality agenda by:

    • regularly seeking feedback from members of our Full Stop Community and listeners, with particular reference to any bias that our behaviour may be revealing

  • The Full Stop Community CIC customer privacy notice

    This privacy notice tells you what to expect us to do with your personal information.

    Our contact details

    Email berenice@thefullstoppod.com

    What information we collect, use, and why

    We collect or use the following information to provide services and goods, including delivery:

    ·   Names and contact details

    ·   Addresses

    ·   Payment details (including card or bank information for transfers and direct debits)

    ·   Website user information (including user journeys and cookie tracking)

    We collect or use the following information for the operation of customer accounts and guarantees:

    ·   Names and contact details

    We collect or use the following information for service updates or marketing purposes:

    ·   Marketing preferences

    ·   Website and app user journey information

    We collect or use the following information to comply with legal requirements:

    ·   Identification documents

    Lawful bases

    Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information to provide services and goods are:

    ·   Consent

    ·   Contract

    ·   Legal obligation

    ·   Legitimate interest:

    o  To protect our online membership wellbeing

    Where we get personal information from

    ·   People directly

    How long we keep information

    • For the length of the membership

    Sharing information outside the UK

    Where necessary, we may transfer personal information outside of the UK to Australia. When doing so, we comply with the UK GDPR, making sure appropriate safeguards are in place. Please contact us for more information.

    Your data protection rights

    Under data protection law, you have rights including:

    Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal data.

    Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify personal data you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.

    Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal data in certain circumstances.

    Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.

    Your right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.

    Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal data you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.

    Your right to withdraw consent – When we use consent as our lawful basis you have the right to withdraw your consent.

    You don’t usually need to pay a fee to exercise your rights. If you make a request, we have one calendar month to respond to you.

    To make a data protection rights request, please contact us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

    How to complain

    If you have any concerns about our use of your personal data, you can make a complaint to us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

    If you remain unhappy with how we’ve used your data after raising a complaint with us, you can also complain to the ICO.

    The ICO’s address:           

    Information Commissioner’s Office
    Wycliffe House
    Water Lane
    Wilmslow
    Cheshire
    SK9 5AF

    Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

    Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

    Last updated

    24 April 2024

  • The Full Stop Community CIC committed to encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion, and eliminating unlawful discrimination.

    The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customers, and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best.

    The organisation - in providing goods and/or services and/or facilities - is also committed against unlawful discrimination of customers or the public.

    Our policy’s purpose

    This policy’s purpose is to:

    1. Provide equality, fairness and respect for all in our employment, whether temporary, part-time or full-time

    2. Not unlawfully discriminate because of the Equality Act 2010 protected characteristics of:

    ·       age

    ·       disability

    ·       gender reassignment

    ·       marriage and civil partnership

    ·       pregnancy and maternity

    ·       race (including colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origin)

    ·       religion or belief

    ·       sex

    ·       sexual orientation

    3. Oppose and avoid all forms of unlawful discrimination.

    We commit to:

    1. Encourage equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace as they are good practice and make business sense

    2. Create an environment free of bullying, harassment, victimisation and unlawful discrimination, promoting dignity and respect for all, and where individual differences and the contributions of all staff are recognised and valued.

    3. Take seriously complaints of bullying, harassment, victimisation and unlawful discrimination by fellow employees, customers, suppliers, visitors, the public and any others in the course of the organisation’s work activities. Such acts will be dealt with as misconduct under the organisation’s grievance and/or disciplinary procedures, and appropriate action will be taken. Particularly serious complaints could amount to gross misconduct and lead to dismissal without notice.

    4. Make opportunities for training, development and progress available to all staff, who will be helped and encouraged to develop their full potential, so their talents and resources can be fully utilised to maximise the efficiency of the organisation.

    5. Make decisions concerning staff being based on merit (apart from in any necessary and limited exemptions and exceptions allowed under the Equality Act).

    6. Review employment practices and procedures when necessary to ensure fairness, and also update them and the policy to take account of changes in the law.

  • Terms of service

    Please read these terms and conditions (“Terms”) carefully before using this website. If you are under 18, be sure to get a parent or guardian to read through these Terms and to discuss them with you.

    If you do not accept these Terms, please don’t use our website. If you visit our website you will be bound by these Terms, and they will form a contract between you and us.

    These Terms apply to the entire contents of our website and to any correspondence by email between us and you. Our privacy statement also forms part of these Terms and should be read in addition. Some parts of our website may also contain additional rules which apply in addition to these Terms.

    Trigger Warning: The episodes on the Full Stop podcast and content on this website may, at times, cover sensitive topics including but not limited to suicide, abuse, violence, mental illnesses, miscarriage and infertility. We will apply content warning but advise that if you are likely to be offended or adversely impacted by any of these topics please do not listen.

    Terms of service: The Full Stop podcast

    General provisions – these apply when you visit or use our website:

    1. Changes – we may change these Terms at any time, in which case the amended Terms will be posted on our websites and will apply from the date we post them, with the exception that any orders that we have already accepted from you before the new Terms are posted will continue to be subject to the Terms in force when your order was accepted. Please check these Terms on each occasion you use our websites. If you continue to use our sites you will be bound by the latest Terms.

    2. Using our site – you agree to only use our site in a manner that complies with all applicable laws and regulations and is consistent with these Terms and does not infringe the rights of anyone else, nor restrict or inhibit their use and enjoyment of our sites (including, without limitation, by hacking). We reserve the right in our sole discretion to deny any user access to our website without prior notice

    3. Privacy statement – we use, store and process information about you in accordance with our Privacy Policy. By using our websites, you consent to such use, storage and processing.

    4. Website content and user-added content

    a) If you have a complaint about any content on any of our websites please notify us immediately by emailing berenice@thefullstoppod.com setting out:-

    • Your name, company or organisation name if relevant, contact details (both a land address, telephone number and email);

    • Details of the exact content complained of and details of why you are complaining about that content; and

    • Confirmation from you that the information you have provided is accurate, complete and not misleading. Please note that no action can be taken without this information.

    b) You must not post or transmit to this website any material:

    • That is knowingly false or misleading, defamatory, illegal, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, liable to incite racial hatred, blasphemous, discriminatory, pornographic, , threatening or invasive of a person’s privacy;

    • Which you do not own or for which you have not obtained all necessary licences and/or approvals;

    •  Which is technically harmful (including, without limitation, computer viruses, logic bombs, Trojan horses, worms, harmful components, corrupted data or other malicious software or harmful data); or

    •  Impersonating any person or entity, or falsely stating or otherwise misrepresenting your affiliation with anyone or any entity.

    c) If you post or transmit to our website any material of the type prohibited under term 4.b above and we incur any costs, expenses, liability or losses as a result then you agree to indemnify us for all such costs, expenses, liability or losses.

     d) If you post or transmit any material to any of our websites:-

    • You grant us the right to use, reproduce, modify and publish such material elsewhere in our websites and publications including social media;

    • You grant us the right to use the name that you submit in connection with such content; and

    • We shall be entitled to reveal your identity (or any information which we have about you) to any third party who is claiming that any of that material violates any of their rights or to any government or regulatory authority that is entitled to require us to do so.

    e)  We may remove or edit any material or posting you make on any of our websites at any time.

    5.  Intellectual Property Rights

    a) You acknowledge that all copyright, trademarks and other intellectual property rights in our websites and all photographs, footage, designs, images, text, software, data and other material in our site or generated by our site is owned by us or our licensors. You are permitted to use the site and this material only as expressly authorised by us.

    b) You are permitted to print and download extracts (not the full audio episode) from our website or Podbean for your personal non-commercial use and for private study or teaching purposes, provided in each case that:

    • Copyright and source indications are also printed and copied;

    • No modifications are made to the materials and they are not used as part of any other publication;

    • Any document is printed and copied entirely and is not used in a derogatory or misleading context; and

    • The material is not used in a manner which may damage our reputation or otherwise be harmful to us or impair our ability to achieve our charitable objects.

    c) No other use of material in our websites may be made without first obtaining our written permission. In particular, you must not do the following unless you have first obtained our written permission:

    • Incorporate any material from our sites in any other work or publication, whether in hard copy, audio or electronic form; or

    • Make any commercial use or publication of any material on our sites (other than as necessary for the purpose of viewing the sites in the course of business).

      d) If you wish to use any material from our site other than in accordance with term 5.b above please email your request to berenice@thefullstoppod.com

    e) The photographic, text and other graphic images within any products or publications supplied to you are copyright works and none of them may be copied, reproduced, licensed or otherwise exploited.

    f) Any rights not expressly granted in these terms are reserved.

    6.  Disclaimers

    a) The information provided in our website is intended to provide general information only and, as such, should not be considered as a substitute for advice covering any specific situation. While we endeavour to ensure that the information on our website is correct, we do not warrant the accuracy and completeness of that information. The material on our website may be out of date, and we make no commitment to update such material. We may make changes to the material on our websites, or to the products and prices described in them, at any time without notice.

    b) We do not warrant that the functions contained in our sites will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that our sites or the servers that make them available are free of viruses or bugs or represent full functionality, accuracy or reliability of the materials. We will not be liable for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or your computer system or any other damages (including amongst other losses, loss of profit or loss of use) arising out of your use or delay or inability to use our sites, their content or any link to another website arising in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise except in the case of death or personal injury caused by our negligence.

    7. Links

    a) Our sites may contain links to third party websites. Such links are provided for your convenience only. We do not control such websites and are not responsible for their contents. The mere inclusion of such links does not imply any endorsement of the material on those websites or any association with their operators. If you decide to access any of the third party websites linked to or from our websites, you do so entirely at your own risk. We cannot guarantee that these links will work all the time and we have no control over the availability of the linked pages.

    b) If you wish to link from your website to any pages of our sites you may do so only on the basis that you link to, but do not replicate, the website page, and subject to the following conditions:

    • The linking text must simply consist of the website address;

    • You do not remove, distort or otherwise alter the size or appearance of any logos on our sites;

    • You do not in any way imply that we are endorsing any products or services;

    • You do not misrepresent your relationship with us nor present any other false information about us;

    • You do not otherwise use any Full Stop podcast logos displayed on our sites without our express written permission;

    • You do not link from a website that is not owned by you; and

    • Your website does not contain content that is distasteful, pornographic, infringes any intellectual property rights or other rights of any other person or otherwise does not comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

    c) At any time and at our complete discretion we reserve the right to withdraw the permission to make website links to our sites.

    These Terms do not affect your statutory rights as a consumer. For more information about your statutory rights visit www.gov.uk 

    Views

    The views, information or opinions expressed on this website and the Full Stop podcast are solely the views of the individuals involved and by no means represent absolute facts. Opinions expressed by the host and guests can change at any time. 

    Where guests appear on this website and the Full Stop podcast, the views of those guests are solely their views, and The Full Stop Community CIC does not accept responsibility for them. Such views are the views of guests, and not the Company. 

    The Company and the Directors do not verify the accuracy of the information contained on this website and the Full Stop podcast, and the Company is not responsible for this information. The Company and the Directors assume no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content on this website and the Full Stop podcast. The information contained on this website and the Full Stop podcast is provided on an “as is” basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness or timeliness.

    Any action you take based on the information contained on this website and the Full Stop podcast is strictly at your own risk, and the Company and the Directors will not be liable for any losses or damages in connection with the use of this website and the Full Stop podcast. You should take all steps necessary to ascertain that the information you receive from this website and the Full Stop podcast is correct and has been verified.

    None of the guests or contributors on this website and the Full Stop podcast will be responsible for your use of the information contained therein.

    Copyright

    The Company is the owner or licensee of all intellectual property rights on this website, the podcast channels and our Community page, including but not limited to the copyright and any rights in the designs.

    You are permitted to use the website, podcast and community page for personal use, but not for commercial use, without a licence from us.

    You may not make any recordings or transcripts of, or otherwise copy, our content including the newsletter, podcast content, website or Community page including the design.

    If you breach these terms, you lose your right to access our content, and you must destroy or return any copies or recordings you have made.

    Guests on the podcast may at times provide information on, or read extracts from, third parties’ copyrighted work. The Company and the Directors shall not be responsible for the decision of its guests to convey such information on the podcast, and the Company shall not be deemed to have breach any copyright or other intellectual property rights whatsoever as a result of the actions of any of its guests. 

    The Full Stop is the trading name of The Full Stop Community CIC, Company number: 14769401 Our registered address is 14 High Street, Saffron Walden, England, CB10 1AY, UK.

  • erms of service: The Full Stop Community space.

    This Code of Conduct governs your use of The Full Stop Community space (the “Community”) made available to you by the The Full Stop Community CIC (the “Full Stop”) on the online service known as “Circle.so” and all content available through the Community, including content posted to and messages sent through the Community by Community users (“Community Content”).

    You may report violations of this Code of Conduct by sending an email to: thefullstoppod@gmail.com

    If you do not agree to this Code of Conduct, then you may not use the Community.

    General Use Rules

    Your use of the Community (including uploading and posting Community Content) must be lawful, respectful of the legal rights and interests of others and appropriate to The Full Stop.

    Without limiting the above, the following rules apply to the use of the Community and Community Content:

    • Intended Purpose:  Your use must be relevant and appropriate. You may only use the Community and Community Content for purposes that are consistent with the spirit and intended purposes of The Full Stop.

    • Respectful Use: Your use of the Community must respect The Full Stop, the founders, moderators and other Community users. Please consider the Community a space for respectful discussion, support and constructive feedback and tailor the Community Content you upload and post accordingly.

    • Lawful Use:  Your use of the Community must be lawful and must comply with all applicable laws.

    • Other Persons’ Rights: Your use of the Community must not infringe the legal rights of any other person (including privacy and personality rights, copyright, moral rights, and other intellectual property rights).

    • No Data Collection:  Your use of the Community and Community Content must not involve any unauthorised data matching or data mining, including without limitation the unauthorized collection or use of information about other the Community users (including their email addresses and other personal information).

    • No Spam:  You may not use the Community to (directly or indirectly) post, upload, reproduce, distribute or otherwise transmit, or collect responses from or benefit from, any unauthorised or unsolicited email messages, unsolicited junk or bulk messages, unsolicited commercial messages, or other content promoting your products or services or other forms of spam.  The Full Stop founders and moderators reserve the right to determine in its discretion whether a message constitutes spam.

    Community Content

    You may only upload Community Content that is relevant and appropriate. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you may not upload Community Content that:

    • Violates the General Use Rules set forth above.

    • Contains materials that are unlawful, indecent, offensive, defamatory, derogatory, fraudulent, deceptive, harmful, abusive, threatening, vulgar, profane, pornographic, obscene, sexually explicit, sexist, racist, hateful, offensive, harassing, invasive of the privacy rights of others, or otherwise objectionable (including any materials that depict, encourage, indicate, advocate for or tend to incite any of the foregoing).

    • May harm, threaten, harass, abuse or intimidate any other person in any way or contains materials that depict, promote, encourage, indicate, advocate or tend to incite the commission of a crime or other unlawful activities, violence, hatred, cruelty or discrimination against any individuals or groups, for any reason, or any act of cruelty to animals.

    • May dilute or depreciate the name and reputation of The Full Stop and its affiliates or representatives, the The Full Stop podcast or any other program offered by The Full Stop.

    • Interferes with other persons’ use and enjoyment of the Community or The Full Stop generally.

    • May disrupt, compromise or degrade the integrity, efficiency, performance or security of the Community or Community Content or that may otherwise or result in: (a) the circumvention or breach of any user authentication, password, security or control measures regarding the Community or any other Internet resource or computer system; (b) unauthorized access to accounts of other the Community users or Community Content (including Community Content posted to the Community); or (c) interference with the use and enjoyment of the Community by any other Community user.

    • Conceals or misrepresents the author or origin of any messages or communication, or that impersonates any person, or that falsely state or otherwise misrepresent an affiliation with any other person, including without limitation any representative of the Foundation.

    • Contains or discloses images or personal information of any person (such as names, telephone numbers, email addresses, mailing addresses and social insurance numbers) without that person’s informed and legally valid consent.

    • Contains any of the following materials, whether posted publicly or with password protection, whether directly or indirectly or intentionally or unintentionally: (a) executable programs or audio and video recordings without the The Full Stop’s prior written consent; (b) materials that contain computer viruses, trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, or other computer code that may damage, harm, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate, interrupt, limit the functionality of, or otherwise adversely affect the Community or any other computer system, hardware, software, telecommunications equipment, data, or personal information; and (c) materials that are encrypted.

    Monitoring and Complaints

    The Full Stop is not responsible or liable to you or any other person for Community Content. The Full Stop is not obliged to monitor, screen, police or edit the use of the Community or Community Content, including postings of Community Content to the Community, although The Full Stop reserves the right to do so in its discretion.

    The Full Stop will respond as it considers appropriate, in its discretion, if The Full Stop becomes aware of any inappropriate uses of the Community or Community Content, including by reporting inappropriate uses to Circle.so. Community users may report violations of this Code of Conduct by sending an email to thefullstoppod@gmail.com

    Compliance, Consequences and Law Enforcement Disclosure

    The Full Stop in its discretion may determine whether this Code of Conduct has been violated. If you violate this Code of Conduct, The Full Stop may, in its discretion, without any notice or any liability to you or any person, do any of the following:

    • require you to modify or remove the Community Content that violates this Code of Conduct;

    • remove and permanently delete any Community Content you upload or post to the Community;

    • terminate or suspend your access to the Community;

    • share the Community Content you upload or post to the Community and your personal information with Circle.so for the purposes of removing and permanently deleting the Community Content or terminating or suspending your access to the Community;

    • terminate or suspend your participation in the The Full Stop or any other programme offered by The Full Stop;

    • revoke any funding granted by The Full Stop to you in connection with the The Full Stop or any other program offered by The Full Stop;

    • require you to repay any funding previously advanced by The Full Stop to you in connection with The Full Stop or any other program offered by The Full Stop; and

    • impose other consequences that The Full Stop may determine in its discretion.

    Community users who violate this Code of Conduct may incur criminal or civil liability.

    The Full Stop in its discretion may report perceived violations of applicable law to law enforcement authorities. The Full Stop will cooperate fully with law enforcement authorities in the investigation of suspected unlawful conduct, including by providing to law enforcement authorities your personal information and copies of Community Content uploaded or posted by you to the Community, as applicable.

    The Full Stop’s failure to enforce this Code of Conduct, for whatever reason, shall not be construed as a waiver of any preceding or subsequent violation of this Code of Conduct.

    The Full Stop may change this Code of Conduct at any time without notice to you or any other person.

    The Full Stop is the trading name of The Full Stop Community CIC, Company number: 14769401 Our registered address is 14 High Street, Saffron Walden, England, CB10 1AY, UK.

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