Charter and terms of use
Talk ED is a national eating disorder charity with over 30 years of helping people affected by eating disorders and eating distress.
We take the quality of the service we provide seriously and are always interested to hear your views. We regularly evaluate the services we provide and do all that we can to ensure that we deliver support that is outstanding every time.
For every interaction you have with us, through any channel, we will ensure that our team of staff and volunteers will be:
- Well-trained and knowledgeable about all aspects of our work and services
- Professional, courteous, efficient, and respectful
- Experienced to deal with your concerns or enquiry
- Committed to treating your personal information in line with our confidentiality policy
If you book a 1:1 support call, you can be assured that we will:
- Listen and respond with empathy and without judgement
- Ensure that we provide you with a personalised service with practical guidance from people you can trust – people who can help you with issues of food and eating distress, offer emotional support, signposting and practical steps towards recovery
In return, we ask you to:
- Not book more than one call per week so we can give as many people as possible a fair chance of booking with us
- Participate in the call from an appropriate private and quiet space to ensure that the discussion can remain confidential, without distracting background noises
- Respect our team, and their professional boundaries at all times; please do not ask them to divulge personal information or personal opinions
- Not use argumentative or offensive language
- Not participate in a call when under the influence of alcohol or drugs
Our staff and volunteers reserve the right to terminate calls where a service user has disregarded the points set out in this charter.
Very occasionally it may be necessary for us to reschedule appointments, though we will try our best not to.
If you book a place on a peer-led support group session, please refer to our code of conduct.
Please note: We are not a general mental health helpline, a counselling service or a crisis line and the guidance offered by our team does not seek to replace statutory and professional services.
If things go wrong
We are committed to providing the highest level of service, but we know that sometimes we may fall short of this. If this happens, our aim is to deal with your complaint in the fairest and most effective manner. If we have not met our commitment to the highest levels of service, we will follow our complaints procedure and:
- Keep a copy of your comments
- Explain our complaints process
- Tell the right people at Talk ED
- Let you know what action we have taken
- Try to resolve any complaint as soon as possible
If you think that we can do something to improve our service, please inform us:
Step 1 – tell the team member dealing with your enquiry, in the first instance, that you are not happy with the service that you have received. We always aim to put things right straight away.
Step 2 – if the team member hasn’t been able to resolve your complaint about the service we have provided, you can raise your concerns with the Chief Executive. This can be done by email or post (details below). We will provide you with a full response within 28 working days of receipt of your complaint.
Our service users are always at the heart of what we do. Your opinions are very valuable to us as they help us to improve our products and services. If you have feedback about any aspect of our service, please get in touch.
Our contact details: Woburn House, Vernon Gate, Derby, DE1 1UL info@firststepsed.co.uk
Updated: February 2022.