Code of Conduct

Non-Trivial aims to be welcoming, encouraging, and safe for all participants. All staff, volunteers, and participants are therefore required to abide by the following policy at all official Non-Trivial events, programs, and virtual platforms.

If you have any questions about this code of conduct policy, please reach out to Non-Trivial’s Founder, Peter McIntyre, by email (peter@non-trivial.org) or by phone (+44 7 383 842 314).

This document is to be read alongside the Effective Ventures Safeguarding Policy and Digital Safety Policy. Effective Ventures is Non-Trivial’s fiscal sponsor – the legal organisation that Non-Trivial is a part of.

How to report a harassment or safeguarding concern

If you feel uncomfortable or think there may be potential harassment, please report it to Non-Trivial through either of the following methods:

• Contacting Non-Trivial’s Safeguarding Lead and Founder, by email (peter@non-trivial.org) or by phone (+44 7 383 842 314)
• Submit an anonymous reporting form

Contacts outside Non-Trivial

• In an emergency, you should immediately call the police or ambulance services in your country.
• A list of children’s helplines, organized by continent and country, can be found here.
• Catherine Low, Groups and Community Health Associate at the Centre For Effective Altruism, and a contact person for the EA Community. You can email her (catherine@centreforeffectivealtruism.org) or contact her anonymously.
• Effective Ventures is the fiscal sponsor of Non-Trivial. Susan Shi (susan@ev.org) is their Designated Safeguarding Officer, whom you can contact to report an issue.

Participant code of conduct

1. I will treat other participants and staff with respect.
2. If I have a concern, I will talk to a member of Non-Trivial staff, especially if it relates to safeguarding or harassment.
3. I will do my best to get the most out of the program, but also be mindful of my other needs, including relating to both physical and mental health.

Safeguarding

The purpose of this policy statement is:

• To protect participants of the Non-Trivial Fellowship from harm. 
• To provide staff and volunteers, as well as participants and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Non-Trivial, including managers, paid staff, volunteers, as well as participants on Non-Trivial programs.

We believe that:

• Participants should never experience abuse of any kind.
• We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of our participants, keep them safe, and practice in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

• The welfare of our participants is paramount in all the work we do.
• All of our participants regardless of age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief or lack thereof, have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse.
• Some of our participants may be additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues.
• Working in partnership with our participants, their parents and carers, and other agencies is essential in promoting our participant’s welfare.

We will seek to keep our participants safe by:

• Valuing, listening to and respecting them. 
• Appointing a nominated safeguarding lead for our participants and nominating a deputy. 
• Adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies.
• Recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely.
• Asking all of our staff to obtain the highest level of DBS check commensurate with their role (or international equivalents). Guest speakers may not have had these checks but they will not spend time with participants without Non-Trivial staff present.
• Making sure that staff participate in online safeguarding training before interacting with participants.
• Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, and training so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently.
• Recording all group virtual calls or calls between staff and any participants, to ensure that there is oversight and that incidents can be easily investigated.
• Recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance.
• Making sure that our participants and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern.
• Using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving our participants and their families appropriately.
• Using our harassment and safeguarding policy procedures to manage any allegations against staff, volunteers, and participants appropriately.

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Stopping harassment

Non-Trivial encourages individuals who have witnessed harassment to promptly and clearly advise the alleged offender that their behaviour is unwelcome and request that it stop.

Non-Trivial will follow the “Process for raising a safeguarding concern relating to harm to/abuse of children/vulnerable adults” outlined in Annex 3 of our Safeguarding Policy.

Harassment includes:

• Offensive verbal comments related to gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, or other characteristics unrelated to the tasks at hand;
• Repeated bullying, humiliation, or offensive comments unrelated to any of the above characteristics;
• Deliberate intimidation;
• Stalking;
• Harassing photography or recording;
• Sustained disruption of talks or other events;
• Inappropriate physical contact;
• Sexual harassment, such as repeated unwelcome sexual attention, sharing sexual images publicly, or making a reward conditional upon sexual behaviours.

Interactions between people with an imbalance in power or authority may be more vulnerable to harassment, so Non-Trivial staff must be especially vigilant that their own behaviour, or that of their colleagues, does not constitute harassment. 

Relatedly, romantic relationships and flirting between all Non-Trivial People are strictly forbidden. This rule applies to all Non-Trivial people with an ongoing connection to Non-Trivial, up until the point where both and all of the individuals concerned are independent agents (as defined in the digital safety policy).

Non-Trivial also strictly forbids:

• Retaliation against individuals sincerely reporting (perceived or potential) harassment.
• Deliberately false accusations (which is not the same as an unproven allegation).

Non-Trivial will take disciplinary action against such behaviour in the same manner as action against harassment.

Participants, staff, or volunteers asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately.

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If a participant engages in harassing behaviour, Non-Trivial staff will respond as appropriate, including:

• Warning the offender;
• Separating participants into different groups;
• Expulsion from the program or termination of contract;
• Calling the police. If there is evidence of criminal activity then Non-Trivial will inform the police and ensure that any internal investigation does not hinder a formal police investigation.

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All Non-Trivial staff have discretion over minor corrective behaviour and warnings, as well as emergency responses, but should report incidents to Non-Trivial’s Safeguarding Lead, who will have the final say on more substantial, non-emergency actions, such as expulsion from the program.

Non-Trivial’s Founder and/or Safeguarding Lead will investigate any reported harassment. This investigation will be documented using Annex 4, of our Safeguarding Policy.

We are committed to reviewing our policy and how we ensure Non-trivial participants, staff, volunteers are welcomed and safe annually. This policy was last reviewed in November 2022.

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Signed: 

Founder, Non-Trivial