1. Using this site
These Terms of Use apply to the Open Space Support website. By using the site you agree to them. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.
Open Space Support is a volunteer-run initiative based in the United Kingdom. We may update these terms from time to time. The date at the top is the version that applies. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the updated terms.
2. What we are, and are not
We offer practical information and a way to ask for support if you are rebuilding after leaving a high-control religious group.
We are not:
- a crisis service, emergency service, or suicide helpline
- a replacement for a GP, therapist, solicitor, or regulated adviser
- a religious organisation, and we are not here to convert you to anything
If you are in crisis or need immediate support in the UK, contact Samaritans on 116 123 (free, 24/7), or call 999 if you or someone else is in immediate danger.
3. Our resources
Articles, reading lists, research summaries, and signposts to other organisations are for general information. We take care with them, but they are not personal advice about your legal, medical, housing, financial, or immigration situation.
Laws and benefits change, and they differ across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Always check official sources or a qualified adviser before you rely on something for a decision that could affect your rights or safety.
We may add, edit, or remove content at any time. We do not guarantee that the site will always be available or free of errors.
4. Applying for support
Submitting an application does not create a contract for a particular service, a guaranteed outcome, or an ongoing duty of care beyond what we reasonably can offer as volunteers.
We will read what you send and respond using the contact details you give us, usually within a few days, but we cannot promise a particular timescale. You can ask us to delete an application at any time.
You are responsible for making sure the contact details you give us are safe for you to use. If it is not safe for us to call, email, or write at certain times, tell us in the application.
Draft applications are saved in your browser on the device you are using. They are not on our servers until you submit. If that device is shared, a saved draft may be visible to someone else who uses it.
5. Donations
You can make a one-off or monthly donation through our donate page. Donations are voluntary gifts to help keep this work going. They do not buy a service, membership, or a guaranteed outcome, and they do not create a contract for support.
We are not a registered charity, so we cannot claim Gift Aid and your gift is not a charitable donation for tax purposes.
Payments are taken on a secure page run by Stripe. We never see your full card number. Stripe’s own terms apply to the payment itself.
You should be 18 or over to donate. If you set up a monthly gift and want to stop it, use the link in Stripe’s receipt or confirmation email, or contact us and we will cancel it.
Donations are gifts, so we do not usually refund them. If you paid by mistake, or were charged twice, contact us promptly and we will look at it.
6. Links to other sites
We link to organisations we think may help - for example housing advice, helplines, or other former-member resources. Those sites have their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for their content, availability, or what they do with information you give them.
A link is a signpost, not a guarantee. It is not an instruction to leave, to stay, or to take any particular step.
7. Our content
Unless we say otherwise, the text, layout, and original materials on this site belong to Open Space Support. You may read them, print a copy for your own personal use, and share a link. You may not copy the site, scrape it, or reuse our writing for a commercial product without our written permission.
Book covers, organisation logos, and similar third-party marks belong to their owners. We use them to identify the resource we are pointing to.
Research summaries credit the original authors. The papers themselves remain the copyright of those authors or their publishers.
8. Fair use
Please do not use this site to:
- break the law, harass anyone, or try to identify or contact other users
- attempt to access accounts, data, or systems you are not meant to use
- overload, scrape, or interfere with the site
- submit information about another person unless they have asked you to
- send us malware, spam, or anything we have not asked for
We may block access or delete a submission if we reasonably believe these terms have been broken.
9. Liability
The site is provided free of charge, “as is”, except for donations you choose to make. To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for loss or damage arising from your use of the site or reliance on information on it, including loss of data, or decisions you make after reading our resources.
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or anything else that English law says cannot be excluded.
If you are using the site as a consumer in the UK, your statutory rights are not affected.
10. Privacy
How we handle personal information is explained in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. Those documents form part of these terms.
11. Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction, except that if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may also bring a claim in the courts of your home nation.
If a court finds that any part of these terms cannot be enforced, the rest still applies.
12. Contact
Questions about these terms can be sent through our contact form.