DIRECTORY - NOTES FOR THE DIRECTORY

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In the green box at the foot of the Lead Directory Page there are tabs that provide information about the Directory (see here). The following supplements that information.

REQUIREMENTS FOR HAVING AN ENTRY IN THE DIRECTORY
The 'Coverage' tab on the lead Directory page (linked to above) makes it reasonably clear that we are flexible about how we interpret which groups we accept as being 'community support' groups. We wish our Directory to be useful to people so we are supportive of those groups that are helpful to the Community in any reasonable (not wholly business) way. However, we do have the following rules we wish to follow.

Firstly, entries have to be short. Any group that seeks a long entry will be disappointed. We may consider longer-than-normal entries in rare circumstances but that will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Paid-for advertisements will also be considered but they will be rare and will be clearly identified as having been paid-for or sponsored. [We are not going to compete for advertisements against information-providers we aim to support!] Otherwise, although we will be open to suggestions on wording, the wording used throughout the Directory will be our own (though that will not stop us from quoting from web sites where we think that to be appropriate).

Another rule is that we wish to have each entry in the Directory contain a means to enable readers to contact someone about the relevant group. That will normally be by providing a link to that group's web site or Facebook page or at least to a web site or Facebook page where the group has an opportunity to record its contact details. [If the group does not use that opportunity then that is up to them.] However, some groups are little more than loose groupings of people for whom having a web site or Facebook page is either not appropriate or not practicable for some reason. For them we will normally suggest some other means of contact (perhaps a personal email address). If that is not possible or is not wanted (for we will have to have clear consent before we publish personal details) then it may well be that we cannot have an entry for them in our Directory.

When it comes to providing personal contact details, if possible we prefer to provide an e-mail address rather than a phone number. This is largely because this is an Internet-driven facility. What information people provide about themselves in other web sites is up to them. To help neutralise the personal impact of anyone having to give out their personal email addresses, we offer free email addresses in certain circumstances (see below).

CROSS-REFERENCES TO THE DIRECTORY
If you wish to cross-refer to a particular group in our Directory, we suggest that you check the link from time to time. We expect that the Directory will grow over the years. It started off with the groups shown over just 2 pages but the number of pages required has already increased since then. Hence, for example, if in October 2018 you provide an external link to a group in our Directory whose name starts with M (which was shown, at the beginning of October 2018, at the bottom of Page 2 of 3) and go back to that group in (say) late 2020, it is likely that it will have been moved to page 3 (of 4).

PROVISION OF FREE E-MAIL ADDRESSES
As mentioned above, for every entry in the Directory we wish to identify some means of contact. An email address will sometimes be the main means available. Various organisations offer free email facilities (examples: Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook and, alongside their broadband facilities, BT) but we thought that we would ourselves offer a free email account to groups that otherwise rely on volunteers having to give out their personal email addresses. The email addresses we provide will be of the format 'groupname@gvgi.uk'. They will be accessible through the link HERE which is a web page provided by Stirnet's Internet Service Provider (the reason for that is explained below). If needed, we can arrange that emails to that address are automatically copied to someone's personal address so that users do not have to check more than one email address. If they then want to, they can respond to those emails from the @gvgi.uk address. [This automatic copying can be done to only one email address at a time.] Using this facility would enable groups to change the person responsible for monitoring their group's email address without having to notify everyone who had recorded a personal email address as the contact.
[On occasion we will use temp@gvgi.uk for groups for whom the only contact details we have is a personal phone number and we hesitate to make that number public. In those cases we will take a message and try to make sure that it is passed promptly on to the relevant person.]

Control over the provision & maintenance of the email accounts we provide will rest with Stirnet Limited, the business of GVGI's founder & main executive (Peter BG), as that company hosts this web site (for free) and this e-mail facility is being operated 'as part of' this web site. We cannot hand over responsibility for the running of this service to anyone else. A downside to this is that, as Stirnet is not set-up as an email provider but is merely enabling others to share its email facilities, only Stirnet may set or change the passwords of accounts. [This sets a limit to the number of accounts that Stirnet is willing to host under this offer but we expect not to reach that limit. It is possible for those who are particularly concerned about changing their own passwords to do so themselves as long as that is in the presence of Peter BG.] There is also a limit to the storage capacity provided for each email address but that is quite generous and should be enough for most groups.

If having an @gvgi.uk email address interests you, contact Peter@GoldenValleyGroups.UK (or admin@gvgi.uk). If this becomes popular, we may have to add more simple Terms & Conditions to make it easier for us to administer. However, we have no plans or wish to ever charge for this facility.

SPONSOR The provision of this Online Directory would not be possible without the sponsorship of STIRNET LIMITED which hosts the site alongside its own site at www.stirnet.com (click on the logo) and pays for its costs as well as supporting GVGI in other ways. [STIRNET LIMITED is owned and operated by Peter Barns-Graham, GVGI's founder & executive.]