Community Guidelines

Heart Buddies
Effective date: 26 May 2026

Heart Buddies exists to offer comfort, encouragement and community connection for families affected by congenital heart disease and open heart surgery.

Our community is built around kindness, shared experience and mutual support.

1. Be Kind and Respectful

Everyone’s experience is different. Please speak to others with compassion, patience and respect.

Bullying, judgement, shaming, personal attacks or unkind comments will not be accepted.

2. Peer Support Only

Heart Buddies encourages families to share personal experiences and offer emotional support to one another.

Heart Buddies does not provide medical advice, counselling, therapy or crisis support.

3. No Medical Advice

Please do not give medical advice to other members.

You may share your own experience, but families should always speak to qualified healthcare professionals about medical decisions, symptoms, treatment or concerns.

4. Protect Privacy

Please think carefully before sharing personal information online.

Do not share another person’s private details, hospital information, medical details or photographs without permission.

5. Children’s Images and Information

Photos or personal details of children should only be shared by a parent or legal guardian, or with clear permission from them.

Please avoid sharing sensitive details that could identify or expose a child unnecessarily.

6. No Fundraising Without Permission

Please do not promote personal fundraisers, businesses or campaigns in Heart Buddies spaces without permission from Heart Buddies.

7. Moderation

Heart Buddies may remove posts, comments or members where content is unsafe, inappropriate, misleading, upsetting, promotional or not aligned with these guidelines.

Moderation decisions are made to protect the safety and kindness of the community.

8. Urgent Help

Heart Buddies is not an emergency service.

If someone is in immediate danger, call 999.

For urgent medical concerns, please contact your hospital team, GP, NHS 111 or emergency services as appropriate.

9. Contact

Email:
info@heartbuddies.org

Website:
heartbuddies.org