Charity Regulation

UK Regulator, Charity Registration Number: 1156987

Founded in 2014, by Sam Holdsworth, learn more on The Charity Commission.

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Code of Ethics

Clowns Without Borders’ (CWB) Code of Ethics aims to ensure that our Staff, Trustees and Volunteers treat each other and the children, young people and communities that we work with, with dignity and respect.

​Clowns Without Borders Code of Ethics is designed to provide clear guidance to our Staff, Trustees and Volunteers for Ethicsing themselves in a manner that is consistent with their role and commitment to our values, and to provide examples of Ethics that will always be unacceptable.

​Our Code of Ethics is designed to ensure compliance with related Policies, full disclosure of suspected or alleged breaches of the expected standards of Ethics, and to maintain the professional standing of the charity so that we can achieve our mission to support the wellbeing of children living through crisis by sharing laughter and play. 

Application and Scope

1. This Code of Ethics is binding on all Clowns Without Borders Staff, Trustees and Volunteers.  Staff, Trustees and Volunteers will be required to sign an acknowledgement to show that they have read and understood the Code of Ethics.

2. Staff, Volunteers and Trustees are individually and collectively responsible for complying with this Code of Ethics:

   i) As a Clowns Without Borders member of Staff, Volunteer or Trustee you are an ambassador of the organisation and your actions and behaviour both during and outside of working hours (whether inside or outside of the office environment) can enhance or hinder our reputation. As such, Clowns Without Borders Staff, Volunteers and Trustees are responsible for managing their behaviour both within and beyond our work in accordance with this Code of Ethics and associated Policies and procedures.

3. This Code should also be read and understood in conjunction with the following

   associated Policies:

   • Child Protection Policy
   • Anti-Fraud, Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy
   • Grievance Policy
   • Whistleblowing Policy

Code of Ethics

I understand that I hold a fundamental objective to better the situation of children and young people who live in crises of whatever type (conflict, natural disaster, social inequalities, etc.) in any part of the world.

The main people we serve are children and young people living in situations of crisis. I will actively work to safeguard their rights.

I will act fairly and honestly. I will not take part in any form of discrimination harassment, or abuse (physical, sexual or verbal), intimidation or exploitation, or in any other way infringe the rights of others.

I will do this by:

• Always putting the best interest of the child first
• Adhering to Clowns Without Borders’s Policy on Child Protection and Image Policy
• Support children to raise questions and concerns
• Use positive, non-violent communication and practices to manage child behaviour
• Work to create an open environment where issues relating to children’s Rights, their wellbeing and protection are raised and discussed
• Sharing work that is inclusive so children with different/special needs are equal participants
• Raise concerns about inappropriate behaviour from an adult of child immediately
• Perform risk assessments when planning activities to minimise harm/risk
• Ensure physical contact with children is always appropriate and within clear guidelines
• Implement Clowns Without Borders “two adult rule” in everything we do so no adult is left alone

I will never:

• Develop or engage in sexual or emotional relationships with children or young adults
• Act in an inappropriate or sexually provocative way
• Spend time alone with a child or young adult, separated from others, behind closed doors or
• Sleep in the same room or bed as a child
• Allow a child to sleep at home without supervision
• Act in a manner that may be offensive or risk a child being violated
• Favour a child by giving, for example, presents or making promises
• Exhibit children through, for example, photos and movies on social media without the consent of the child and guardian

Clowns Without Borders’s work sometimes requires physical contact, such as a circus or clown workshop or when a child volunteers to as a participant in a scene in one of our performances. In these instances, I will:

• Be sensitive to the child’s feelings and body language as I understand they may not always communicate verbally
• Keep physical contact to a minimum I understand physical contact is always unacceptable and inappropriate if it:
  • Includes touching the groin, genital area, buttocks, breasts or any part body that may cause distress or embarrassment for the child
  • Frightens, distresses or embarrasses a child
  • Undermines trust
  • Occurs in a private place

If I am working in a Clown/Circus workshop with children or young adults, I understand physical contact might be acceptable if it does not contravene any of the above and:

• Occurs with the child’s understanding and permission
• Is used to assist in skills development, such as in a circus workshop
• Is required for the child’s safety
• Is for the child’s benefit, not adult gratification
• Occurs in an open environment

Pre and Post Performance

Due to the joyful and exuberant nature of our work, sometimes children initiate physical contact. In these instances, I will not:

• Prolong physical contact

I will:

• Keep physical contact to a minimum by ‘high-fiving’, putting a hand on a child’s shoulder or mirroring body language e.g. dancing/clapping etc. without using physical contact

I will make no distinction between children and their communities for reasons of race, age, religion, culture, social situation or any other categorisation.

I shall work to understand and respect the cultures and customs of the countries I work in. When choosing how to engage with children and communities, I shall consider the sensibilities of the destination population, taking into account the culture as well as the context of local situations. 

Clowns Without Borders is political and religious neutrality. I will not use humanitarian activities to impart personal “points of view” on populations. I will not attempt to “educate” the population, share political viewpoints and refrain from any “evangelical” activities.  

I will maintain high standards of personal and professional Ethics whilst working or volunteering with Clowns Without Borders. I will not behave in a way that creates unnecessary risk to my security or the security of others or that compromises the values and reputation of Clowns Without Borders.  I will not drink alcohol or use any substances in a way that will adversely affect my ability to do my job or affects Clowns Without Borders reputation. I will not use of tobacco or drinking alcohol in the presence of minors.

In respect of the children’s public images, I will not use the participation in humanitarian activities as a means to promote my own professional career, nor use Clowns Without Borders images for my professional marketing purposes.

I certify that I have never been charged or convicted of a crime or misdemeanor involving unlawful Ethics or contact with a minor.

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Privacy Policy

Clowns Without Borders, UK (Published May 2018)

Clowns Without Borders is committed to keeping your information secure and managing it in accordance with our legal responsibilities under privacy and data protection laws. This privacy policy explains how we use any personal information we hold about you and your rights in this regard. We will use the information that we collect about you in accordance with:

• The Data Protection Act 1988
• The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003
• The EU General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation EU 2016/679), (‘GDPR’) which becomes effective from 25 May 2018

About us

Clowns Without Borders, is a Registered Charity (Number 1156987). Our registered address is 118 Sternhold Ave, London, SW2 4PP

About you

 You are a person who has done one or more of the following:

• subscribed to our mailing list
• contacted us via email, via the contact form on our website or otherwise
• interacted with us on social media, either directly or indirectly
• donated money via VirginMoneyGiving, cheque, cash or services in kind
• submitted a CV/Clown Application to us

This privacy policy doesn’t cover personal data we may hold about you as a result of you being a trustee or volunteer clown.

The information we may hold about you

Information we hold about you might include:

• Communications with us (for example, using the contact form on our website, by email, or notes of phone calls).
• Information about your donations, event attendance and interactions with us – including the information available through the services we use to do this currently Facebook, Instagram,Twitter, Mailchimp,
• Information you send to us by email or otherwise (eg your CV, information about your work).
• your publicly available social media activity or analytics on you provided by social media platforms e.g. Twitter handle, posts and location.
• statistics around email opening and clicks if you are signed up to our mailing list. We use a third party provider, MailChimp, to deliver our e-newsletters. 

How we use information about you

We collect and hold information about you so we can:

• Personalise your experience of our website and/or communications you receive from us.
• Record who has given money or services to us so that we can tell them how their money has helped us and others, and to claim GiftAid where possible.
• Manage our organisation effectively and continually improve what we do.
• Develop our relationship with you as someone who may want to collaborate with us.
• Encourage donations so we can continue to deliver our work

We won’t pass information we hold about you to anyone else. Any feedback you give us we may use in public communications. But we won’t do so in such a way that people would know it was from you – unless we get your permission. We may share information about you with law enforcement agencies or other organisations or individuals if we are obliged to by law.

Use of anonymised data

We use a third party provider, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns, for example, what you look at or access, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data, information about your computer, including – where your browser provides this – your IP address, operating system and browser type. This information is anonymised, and we will make no attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website.

Marketing

We would like to communicate with you about ourselves, our work, the activity that we think you might find interesting and opportunities to support us. We will only do this if you explicitly give us permission to do this. For example, we won’t add you to our mailing list if you contact us through the contact form. You have the right to opt out at any time from us contacting you for marketing purposes. If you no longer want to be contacted for marketing purposes send us an email on info@clownswithoutborders.org.uk or click ‘unsubscribe’ within the email we have sent you.

Storage and retention ​

We will only store your information in services within the EEA, or in services signed up to the EU-US Privacy Shield. We will keep your information for as long as is required for us to provide you with the service you have requested from us. Where your information is no longer required, we will ensure it is disposed of in a secure manner.

Contacting us, access to your information and right of correction

You have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you. If you would like a copy of some or all of the information we hold about you – or otherwise want to contact us please email info@clownswithoutborders.org.uk We want to make sure that the information we hold about you is accurate and up to date. You can ask us to correct or remove information you think is inaccurate.

Cookies

Cookies are text files placed on your computer by a website to collect standard internet log information and information about the behaviour of visitors that visit a website. For further information on cookies, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org. We do not currently use cookies on our website.

Other websites

If you follow links to other websites, you should read their privacy policies to see how they use information about you.

Changes

This privacy policy was last updated on 15 May 2018. Things that could change in the future without us coming back to you to get your agreement or permission again:

• We could move our website to a different address.
• We could change the services we use to do mailings.

Contact

This privacy policy was drafted with brevity and clarity in mind. It does not provide exhaustive detail of all aspects of Told by an Idiot’s collection and use of personal information. However, we are happy to provide any additional information or explanation needed. Any requests for this should be sent to the address below.

​If you have any questions about this Policy or feedback on this Policy, or would like to exercise your rights with respect to your personal information, please contact the Clowns Without Borders on info@toldbyanidiot.org or write to Clowns Without Borders at 118 Sternhold Ave, London, SW2 4PP.