Terms and conditions and informed consent

Valuing Culture has been developed as part of a national research project based at the University of Leeds. By joining the community and sharing your stories you will be sharing information with the research team that will be used to explore the value of culture and creativity to people’s lives and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By uploading your profile information and stories to Valuing Culture, please be reassured that your data will be stored safely and confidentially. You can choose whether your stories are published anonymously, under a pseudonym, or under your own name, and we will respect your choice for as long as the entry remains on Valuing Culture.

Please be aware that you are free to edit, or remove your profile and stories at any time and be reassured that any information we have obtained from you up until this point will be removed from our analysis and deleted or destroyed (where possible).

We intend to publish the findings of this research in academic journals and disseminate them through industry and academic conferences, but we will always respect your choice regarding your personal identification or anonymity in these dissemination activities.

If you have any further questions about this project, please contact the lead researcher, Dr. Ben Walmsley at ccv@leeds.ac.uk.

A few simple rules

Valuing Culture is based on mutual respect and was designed to be a free, welcoming space for individuals to come together to share stories of their cultural and creative experiences.

To make sure all our users feel safe and comfortable on Valuing Culture we ask that you abide by a few simple rules. By following these basic rules we can help ensure that we treat everyone equally, respect their views and develop a space where all users feel valued and protected.

Valuing Culture is moderated and there are report abuse buttons on every page, but we really want to avoid having to use them and hope that we can trust each other to work responsibly.

  1. You must be over 18.
  2. Please treat people as you would like to be treated yourself- respect their views and they will respect yours.
  3. If you disagree, do so in a friendly and supportive manner. There’s no place for trolls here.
  4. Please do not use offensive language or terms - you will be reported and your account could be closed. Please take special care not to use defamatory or racially/sexually abusive terms - you could be breaking the law and could face legal action.
  5. Help protect vulnerable people and yourself - think about who and what you include in your stories. Don’t identify anyone who is not able to give consent - for example children. Always respect the privacy of others.
  6. Please don’t bully or harass people on this site.
  7. Do not post sexually explicit images or images of violence.
  8. This is your site and your community. If you see something that breaks any of these rules, please report it to us.
  9. Be a positive and supportive member. Take an active interest in the work of others.
  10. Make sure you only upload items that you have permission to share. If items identify people under 18 or vulnerable adults you must have their permission to share. Please provide acknowledgements for material you post - especially if it isn’t yours. A web link is fine!
  11. Have fun!

The legal stuff

Please be aware that the posting of racist, homophobic, sexist or disablist material could be illegal. It will be removed and you could face legal action. The same goes for pornographic images.

Please take every attempt to indicate where material comes from - if you are using something that is taken from another website please provide a link in your story.

1. Copyright Notice

Except where otherwise stated, copyright of all materials resides with Valuing Culture. All intellectual property that shall arise from this process shall remain in perpetuity the copyright of the University of Leeds.

2. Legal Notice

The information made available by Valuing Culture over the World Wide Web does not form part of any contract. Changing circumstances may cause these provisions to be changed at any time. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information presented, we cannot accept responsibility for errors.

3. Junk mail

No email addresses obtained from this site may be used for unsolicited mailings (junk mail) or given to third parties.