01Overview

NEXUS is for adults only. It lets each time bank/community decide how much protection its members need. People who say they need extra care are kept in contact only with people the time bank has checked. Time bank staff (called "coordinators" or "brokers") can see and supervise activity without reading private conversations, except in clearly defined cases.

Nearly every setting below can be changed by the time bank to suit its own safeguarding policy and procedures.

02Adults only (18+)

• Everyone who signs up must confirm they are 18 or over. The account cannot be created without that confirmation. If an age under 18 is ever recorded (for example on the profile, in ID checks or on paper sign-up forms), the platform refuses it. Under-18 features, such as parental consent for events and volunteering, have been switched off.

03Approval before a new member can join in

• By default, a new member's account stays pending until time bank staff approve it. Confirming an email address is not enough.
• A time bank can turn approval off if its policy allows. It must do so on purpose: approval stays on unless the setting is changed.

04The safeguarding step when joining

Every new member sees a safeguarding step during sign-up.

What new members are asked today (the UK default):

"I consider myself a vulnerable adult and would like extra support"
To keep you safe, only coordinators and members whose vetting this time bank has recorded will be able to contact you, and you will be able to contact only them. A coordinator will be in touch.

"None of these apply to me"
I have reviewed the options above and none of them apply to my situation. This is recorded so coordinators know I have seen and considered this step.

The introductory text says: "This time bank takes safeguarding seriously. If you would like extra care while you use the timebank/community, let us know below and our coordinators will help. Each choice tells you exactly what it does before you pick it."

Members see the effect of each choice before they pick it. The plain-English lines under each option are generated from the same settings that enforce the choice, so the description cannot drift from what actually happens.

What choosing "vulnerable adult" does:

• Contact is limited, in both directions. Only coordinators, and members whose vetting the time bank has recorded, can message the person, reply to them, send them time credits or start an exchange with them. The person can contact only those same people. Everyone else is blocked.
• Coordinators are always reachable. That means the time bank's brokers, coordinators and administrators.
• Every exchange is checked first. Any exchange the member arranges is held for a coordinator to approve before it goes ahead. Coordinators cannot read the member's messages through this.
• Match suggestions are checked first. Suggested matches for the member go to a coordinator before the member sees them.
• Coordinators are told straight away. They get an in-app notification and an email, in their own language, with a link to the member.
• The member gets a written summary of their choices by email.
• Vetting must be from this time bank. Vetting recorded by another time bank, or held only through someone's job, does not count.
• It fails safe. If something is misconfigured or a check cannot run, contact is refused, not allowed.
• Time bank spaces still work. Groups the member belongs to, event announcements and emergency alerts work as normal, so the member is not shut out of time bank life.

Members can review their choices later in their settings.

05UK vetting: DBS, PVG and AccessNI

The platform handles the three UK systems separately, because they are different legal regimes. A time bank chooses one of four settings:

How vetting is recorded:

• A recorded decision, not a lookup. Vetting is a decision a broker records after the time bank has done its own checks. The platform does not contact the DBS, Disclosure Scotland or AccessNI.
• No certificates are stored. The platform refuses uploads and refuses certificate numbers, reference numbers, disclosure results and issue dates. It records only that the time bank has confirmed the check.
• Confirming takes several steps. The broker must tick a formal acknowledgement, choose the type of check, write a short note of what the check covers, and set a review date. Private notes are encrypted.
• Built-in conflict rules. Nobody can confirm their own vetting. A broker cannot decide vetting for another broker or an administrator.
• Expiry and renewal. A check past its review or expiry date automatically stops counting. Safeguarding staff get reminders 90, 30 and 7 days before, on the day, and after it lapses.
• Withdrawing. Vetting is withdrawn using a fixed list of reasons. Every decision is logged with who made it, what changed, and the policy version in force.
• Re-confirming everyone after a policy change. If the time bank changes its policy, an administrator can require every vetting record to be confirmed again.

06Oversight of messages, without routine surveillance

The platform does not scan messages for keywords. Instead, coordinators receive a copy of messages in these situations:

• Monitored members. The member has been placed under monitoring by staff, and the member is told when this happens.
• First contact. Two members are messaging each other for the first time.
• New members. The sender joined recently (30 days by default).
• High-risk listings. The message is about a listing a coordinator has marked high or critical risk.
• Random sampling (optional; off by default).

Other protections around message review:

• Members are told on the website and the accessible website that messages may be reviewed.
• Staff can switch off messaging for a member altogether.
• Choosing a safeguarding option never switches on message monitoring by itself.

07Blocking

Every member can block another member. A block stops direct messages, exchanges and time-credit transfers between the two members.

08Exchanges and time credits

• Broker approval of exchanges. A time bank can require a coordinator to approve exchanges, for example only those involving high-risk listings or over a set number of hours. Members who need extra care are always covered, whatever the time bank setting.
• Transfer limit. Each time bank can set a maximum size for a single time-credit transfer.
• Risk tags. Coordinators can tag listings as high risk. High-risk listings trigger extra review.

09Raising and managing concerns

• Volunteering incidents. Concerns, allegations, disclosures and near-misses during volunteering can be reported. Each one becomes a case file for brokers and administrators. Its timeline cannot be altered.
• Volunteer wellbeing. Volunteers can say they are struggling. With their agreement, a named contact or the safeguarding team is told.
• Organisations. Each volunteering organisation can name a safeguarding lead and a deputy.
• Reporting content. Members can report listings, posts and marketplace items to time bank staff, and can raise a dispute about an exchange.
• Coordinators are always reachable.

10People who support a member

Some members are helped by a family member or carer. The platform has formal, consent-based support arrangements for this.

• The member must agree. A supporter can manage listings or transfer time credits for the member only after the member agrees. Every action is recorded against the person who actually did it, and the member is told.
• A supporter can read the member's messages only if the member gives explicit consent. Even then it is read-only; the supporter must give a reason each time; every read is recorded in a log that cannot be altered; and the other people in the conversation are told that a supporter may view it.
• A guardian arrangement recorded by staff is for information only. The member can accept it, refuse it or withdraw at any time, without giving a reason.

11Records and accountability

• What is logged. Safeguarding actions are logged with who did them and when. This covers staff viewing members' safeguarding choices, monitoring decisions, vetting decisions and support arrangements.
• Logs that cannot be changed. Some records are protected by the database itself against editing or deletion, including support arrangement history, supporter message-view logs, volunteering incident timelines and wellbeing case notes.
• Retention. The time bank can set how long data is kept. Closed safeguarding incidents can be kept for 7 years, and wellbeing alerts for 2 years.
• Members' own data. A member's export of their own data includes their safeguarding choices and vetting decisions. The private staff notes on vetting are not included in the export.

12Fully customisable

Each time bank controls its own safeguarding setup.

Safety guard: the platform refuses any change that would quietly weaken a protection members currently rely on. Members who already hold an option keep it, even if the time bank stops offering it to newcomers.

One practical point: A time bank’s own vetting is what makes the vulnerable-adult option work. Until its brokers record DBS checks on the platform, a vulnerable member can only be contacted by coordinators.