The primary aim of SUN is for members to give and receive support in the groups and to feel part of the wider SUN community, which is made up of both members and facilitators.

We encourage members to bring different topics to SUN Support Groups and we acknowledge this may impact everyone differently. We may all experience the same event in different ways and part of the SUN ethos is for all perspectives to be reflected on within a culture of learning, curiosity and compassion. 

The SUN community has several expectations of its members which are: 

  1. SUN is a community where responsibility is shared between facilitators and members for the running of the groups and the service. 
  2. Members are expected to arrive on time and stay for the entire group to be able to give and receive support to one another. 
  3. Members are expected to verbally check in at the beginning and check out at the end of the group with the support of facilitators and other members. 
  4. Members are encouraged to complete a RASP within their first two groups, with the support of the group. This is a requirement to become an active member of SUN. 
  5. Members will not seek out one-to-one support conversations with the facilitators; all support is offered within the groups only, in accordance with the SUN model. 
  6. Members are expected to behave in a respectful and supportive manner in the SUN groups. There is a group agreement read out at the beginning of each group which has been co-written with members detailing these expectations. 
  7. If a member is experienced as being unsupportive, it is the responsibility of members and facilitators to raise this and to discuss this within the group, this will be marked in the minutes. 
  8. The group then needs to decide if the acknowledgement, discussion and reflection is sufficient or whether a sanction needs to be applied. This process is important in upholding the culture of safety and support within SUN. 
  9. The group can ask a member to leave if it is felt that the safety of the group is immediately threatened. 
  10. Members are encouraged to bring their experience of an incident of unsupportive behaviour to future groups. 
  11. The SUN staff team can decide outside of a SUN group that a member has been unsupportive. This is most likely to occur if an incident happens near or at the end of a group and there is no time for the group to decide and safety has been threatened. In extreme circumstances, the member can be asked to take time out from SUN or have their membership revoked. If this happens, members will be informed via weekly feedback. This may be discussed in future groups. 
  12. If safety has not been immediately threatened but there was no time to discuss the incident, then the member is expected to talk about what happened in the next SUN group that they attend. Although the expectation is for the member being unsupportive to discuss it in their next group, other members and facilitators are also invited to discuss the incident if they wish to. That group will then decide what sanction, if any, is appropriate. 
  13. Once time away has ended, there will be a check in with that member with the service manager, a facilitator with lived experience and up to two members to discuss their return. 
  14. When the member returns to a group, they will be expected to look at their RASP again with the group as a way of structuring a discussion about the incident and their return. This can be revisited in future groups if required. 
  15. A member may be asked to take time away for several instances of unsupportive behaviour in groups if after discussion and reflection the same unsupportive behaviour is occurring. 
  16. Our face-to-face groups take place within community venues, behaving supportively within and around these venues is an expectation for the entire SUN community. 

I understand that by joining SUN: 

Group participation: 

  • I am agreeing to participate in a support group where I will share information about myself, some of which may be sensitive or personal, with professionals and other members. 
  • I am agreeing to respect the confidentiality of other group members who will also be sharing information about themselves, some of which may be sensitive or personal. 
  • I am agreeing to remain respectful within the group setting, and I understand that if any of my behaviour is unsupportive this will be addressed within the group. 
  • I am agreeing that the SUN team can contact me via email and phone. 
  • I understand that professional visitors may at times observe groups or other aspects of the service. I understand that these visitors will not have access to my details on the system, but that they may hear information about me during their visit. I understand that they will need to keep anything they hear confidential. 

Information sharing: 

  • I understand SUN will only get in touch with the person who is named as the emergency contact on my membership form if I am unable to do so. For example, in the case of a medical emergency. I understand SUN will only provide this contact with the information needed to support me. 
  • I understand SUN may share information with other professionals or services under certain circumstances when there is a concern about my safety or the safety of someone else. I understand that while this will usually be discussed with me beforehand, information may need to be shared without my agreement. 

Data Protection: 

  • I understand my personal details and information about my attendance at groups will be stored on a secure system, which is only accessible to the SUN team. 
  • I understand SUN membership is not time-limited, and so if I wish to remove my personal details from the SUN database, I will need to contact the team to request this. • If I attend a group and complete RASP within first 6 months of joining SUN, my membership becomes 'active' and will not be time limited. 
  • • If I don’t attend a group within 6 months following registration, I will be sent a reminder email after 5 months. If I don't attend a group and complete RASP within the first 6 months of joining SUN, my membership will be closed. 
  • If I become an active SUN member, but don’t attend SUN groups for another 6 months, then my membership will change to a ‘sleeper’ status and I will be encouraged to review my RASP within the support groups upon my return. 
  • I understand that invitations for virtual groups will be sent in a manner that does not make my email address visible to other members. 
  • I understand that if I choose to use my full name on my Teams account or share any personal contact details with other group members, this is my own responsibility. 

Service Evaluation and Feedback: 

  • I understand SUN will send me regular feedback surveys as part of an evaluation of SUN and that my feedback will be used to improve service delivery. I understand that I can opt out of this by informing the SUN administrator. 
  • I understand SUN will send me regular outcome measures as part of service evaluation. I understand that I can opt out of this by informing the SUN administrator.