Terms of use

Who we are

Connect & Support UK is operated by Play North West CIC, a Community Interest Company registered in England and Wales (Companies House number 15796794). Play North West CIC is the data controller for any personal data processed by this app — see the Privacy notice for the full breakdown.

Contact: hello@playnorthwestcic.com.

What Connect & Support UK is — and isn't

Connect & Support UK is a free, UK-wide mental-health support app made by Play North West CIC. It offers:

• A directory of around 640 UK mental-health services.
• Evidence-based self-help skills from DBT, ACT, EMDR, MBSR, and the Stanley-Brown Safety Planning Intervention.
• Direct, one-tap contact with UK crisis helplines (Samaritans, Shout, NHS 111 option 2, Papyrus HOPELINE247, 999).

It is not:

• A replacement for a therapist, GP, psychiatrist, or any regulated mental-health professional.
• A medical device, diagnostic tool, or prescription aid.
• An emergency response service. Call 999 in a crisis.
• A monitored or staffed service — no-one is watching the app in real time. If you need a person to talk to now, call Samaritans on 116 123 or text SHOUT to 85258.

About the clinical content

Every skill in the app cites the evidence base it draws from (e.g. Stanley-Brown SPI for Safety Plan, Marsha Linehan's DBT for TIPP and STOP, Kristin Neff for Self-Compassion Break, Kabat-Zinn MBSR for Body Scan, NICE NG237 for CBT-I). These interventions have research support for the conditions they target, but no single self-help activity is the right choice for every person. If a skill doesn't help, or makes things worse, please stop using it and talk to a professional.

Age guidance

Connect & Support is designed for people aged 13 and above. Anyone younger should use it alongside a trusted adult — a parent, carer, school counsellor, or GP. Specific crisis lines for under-35s (like Papyrus HOPELINE247) are signposted in the app.

The app follows the ICO's Age-Appropriate Design Code — see our Privacy page for what that means in practice.

Acceptable use

Please don't:

• Scrape the app's service directory to rebuild it elsewhere. The directory is our work; if you want to use it, get in touch.
• Attempt to overwhelm the helpline phone numbers or SMS codes listed in the app — those lines exist to save lives.
• Copy, modify, or distribute the app's source beyond what our licence allows (the repo is private pending clinical sign-off).

Availability

We try to keep the app running 24/7, but we can't promise it. If the app is down, the helpline phone numbers and text codes in this file — Samaritans 116 123, Shout 85258, NHS 111 (press 2), Papyrus HOPELINE247 0800 068 4141, 999 — all still work from any UK phone even without the app.

A static "offline" fallback page is cached on your device so the five priority helplines show up even when the main app can't reach the network.

Liability

UK law doesn't let us exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud. Subject to that, Play North West CIC can't be held responsible for:

• Outcomes of using any self-help skill in the app — these are general tools, not personalised treatment.
• The accuracy of a third-party service's opening hours or phone number at the moment you call (we re-verify on a schedule, but details can change). Service directory entries carry a verified_at date we do our best to keep current.
• Loss of data caused by your device, browser, or operating system clearing local storage.

If you think something in the app is clinically wrong or unsafe, tell us immediately at hello@playnorthwestcic.com.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Material changes will be flagged on the home page, and the "Last updated" date will change.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any dispute will be handled by the courts of England and Wales.