Companion Code of Conduct

This document sets out what we expect from you as a Connectea companion — and what you can expect from us. It is written in plain English because we want you to actually read it, understand it, and feel confident about what it means.

Being a companion is genuinely meaningful work. The people you visit may not have many other people in their lives. Your visits matter more than you might think. That is why we take this seriously — and why we ask you to take it seriously too.

If anything in this document is unclear, please get in touch. We would rather answer a question than have you uncertain about something important.

Your role as a Connectea companion is to spend time with someone. That is it. Conversation. A walk. A shared activity. A cup of tea. Being present with someone who needs another human in their life.

You are not a carer. You are not a nurse. You are not responsible for someone's health or physical wellbeing. You are responsible for showing up, being yourself, and making someone's day a little less lonely.

This is more valuable than it sounds. The research is clear: consistent human connection reduces isolation, improves mental health, and has measurable benefits for physical health too. What you do matters.

The guiding principle is simple: everything you do must be done together with the person, never for them because of their age, illness, or disability. In practice, a Companion's tasks are:

• Conversation, social interaction, and emotional and social support through active listening
• Accompanying the person on a walk, to a café, to the shops, to a place of worship, or to a community or social group — as company, not as a supervisor or manager of the visit
• Sharing a cup of tea, a meal, or general hospitality together
• Games, puzzles, reading aloud, watching something together, reminiscing, and discussing hobbies and interests
• General light conversation touching on the person's wellbeing — remembering you must not assess, manage, or coordinate their care needs
• Simply being present so the person is not alone — company, not supervision
• Accompanying the person to an appointment purely as moral support — not acting on their behalf, not making decisions, and not liaising with the professional as their representative
• General everyday technology help, such as using a phone or video-calling family, or helping write a letter or card
• Light, casual, mutual activity done together — for example watering plants or tidying together as a shared social activity, not because the person is unable to do it themselves

If you are asked to do something that is not on this list, stop and check with Connectea before doing it.

Personal care and care tasks. These are explicitly outside the Companion role. If you are ever asked to do any of these things by a family or the person you are visiting, you must decline, explain that it falls outside a Companion's role, and report the request in accordance with the Reporting a Concern procedure. You must never:

• Give any physical assistance with eating or drinking, washing or bathing, dressing, toileting, oral care, or care of the skin, hair, or nails
• Prompt or supervise the person to do any of the above themselves, where this is because they cannot be relied upon to do it unprompted — this counts as personal care even with no physical contact at all
• Do tasks for the person — such as shopping, managing bills, or correspondence — specifically because they are unable to do it themselves, rather than doing it together with them
• Administer, handle, prompt, or supervise medication in any form, including simply reminding someone to take it, where this is because they cannot safely manage it themselves
• Carry out any moving and handling — physically supporting a transfer, physically steadying someone, or catching a fall
• Carry out any health care task — wound care, applying medicated creams, monitoring vital signs, or anything else of a clinical nature
• Provide any form of medical advice or assessment
• Make or influence decisions about the person's care, treatment, or finances, or act as their representative, appointee, or hold any power of attorney
• Allow yourself to be positioned as the person's carer, supervisor, or the person in charge of their safety or wellbeing during a visit, rather than as a visiting Companion
• Provide any therapeutic or clinical-adjacent intervention beyond ordinary conversation

If someone needs this kind of help during a visit, your job is to make sure they are safe and then contact their family or call 999 if it is urgent. Then let us know.

Money and finances:

• Accept any gift, loan, or financial benefit from the person you visit or their family — no matter how small, and no matter how much they insist
• Help with or advise on someone's financial affairs, banking, or investments
• Be named in or assist with anyone's will
• Make any financial transaction on behalf of the person you visit

We know this can feel awkward — people sometimes offer gifts out of genuine gratitude. The right response is warmth and a gentle decline: "That's so kind, but I genuinely can't accept it — it's one of Connectea's rules." If it keeps happening, let us know.

Third parties:

• Bring anyone else with you to a visit without explicit permission from the family and from us
• Introduce the person you visit to anyone outside the context of the visit

Oversharing:

• Share personal information about the person you visit with anyone outside of Connectea — including on social media
• Photograph or film the person you visit without their explicit consent and ours

Boundaries are not about being cold or professional in a clinical way. They are about keeping the relationship healthy — for the person you visit and for you.

• Be warm, be yourself, be genuine — but remember that you are there in a specific role. The relationship has a shape.
• If someone starts to rely on you emotionally in a way that feels unhealthy or that concerns you, talk to us. We will help you navigate it.
• If the person you visit starts asking for things that feel outside your role, it is always okay to say no. And always okay to call us.
• If you are finding visits emotionally difficult, please talk to us. We take companion wellbeing seriously.

Before your first visit to anyone, there must be a third person present. That means a family member, a trusted friend, or someone the family has named as their representative. This is not optional. It is the single most important rule Connectea has.

This rule protects the person you are visiting. It protects you. And it makes clear from the very first moment that your relationship with this person exists in the open — not behind a closed door.

Here is exactly what this means for you:

• Before your first visit, confirm with the family that a third person will be there
• If you arrive and no third person is present — do not go in
• Contact Connectea immediately: contact@connectea.com or use the Report a concern button in your dashboard
• We will reschedule the visit. The family will be reminded of the requirement.
• If you enter a home alone on a first visit for any reason — even if the family asks you to, even if it feels fine — your profile will be suspended while we review what happened

We know this can feel awkward if you arrive and the third person has had to cancel last minute. The right answer is still: do not go in. Rescheduling a visit is a minor inconvenience. Compromising on this rule — even once, even with the best intentions — is not something we can overlook.

This rule will never be waived. Not for convenience, not for commercial reasons, not under any circumstances.

• Let someone you trust know where you are going and when you expect to be back
• Keep your phone charged and with you
• If something feels wrong when you arrive — trust that feeling. You do not have to go in. Contact us.
• If you feel unsafe during a visit, you can leave. Your safety comes first. Let us know what happened afterwards.
• Log your visit on the Connectea dashboard when you are done

You are not a safeguarding professional — and we are not asking you to be. But you will be spending time with people who may be vulnerable, and sometimes you will notice things that concern you.

Signs that something might not be right include:

• Unexplained bruises, injuries, or signs of physical harm
• Signs that someone is not eating, not keeping warm, or not being looked after
• Someone seeming frightened, distressed, or telling you something that worries you
• Signs that someone might be being taken advantage of financially
• A significant change in how the person seems compared to your last visit

If you notice any of these things, use the Report a concern button in your dashboard, or email contact@connectea.com. If you think someone is in immediate danger, call 999 first. You will never be in trouble for raising a concern.

After each visit, please log a brief note in your Connectea dashboard. It does not need to be long — just a sentence or two about how the visit went, and whether anything came up that you want us to know about. This record protects you as much as it protects the people you visit.

• Do not discuss the people you visit with friends or family — even without using names
• Do not post about your visits on social media
• Do not share contact details, addresses, or any personal information about the people you visit with anyone outside Connectea

If you are ever unsure whether something is okay to share, check with us first.

If you make a mistake, if something happens during a visit that you are not sure how to handle, or if you feel you have done something that was outside your role — please tell us. Quickly and honestly. We are much better placed to help you if we know what has happened.

What we cannot overlook is a serious or repeated breach of this Code of Conduct — particularly anything that puts a vulnerable person at risk. In those cases, we may need to suspend or end your employment with Connectea, and in serious cases we are legally required to report the matter to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

When you are a Connectea companion, every visit you make happens within a framework that protects the people you visit and protects you — DBS checks, safeguarding training, the Three-Way Introduction, visit logging, insurance, and our Code of Conduct. That framework only works because you are employed by us.

If your employment with Connectea ends — for any reason — you must not continue to visit any person you met through Connectea in a private capacity, whether paid or unpaid, unless all three of the following have happened:

• The family has given you written consent confirming they want the arrangement to continue privately
• The family has confirmed in writing to Connectea that they understand the visits will no longer be covered by Connectea's safeguarding framework and that Connectea will have no responsibility for what happens during those visits
• Connectea has provided written acknowledgement of both of the above

All three of these must happen. Not one. Not two. All three. If you continue visiting someone privately without this three-way written release, you are in breach of this Code of Conduct — and depending on the circumstances, we may be required to refer the matter to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

You must also never represent yourself as a Connectea companion after your employment has ended. If a family or anyone else asks whether you are still with Connectea and you are not, you must say so clearly. Falsely representing yourself as acting under Connectea's name or framework after your employment ends is a serious matter.

If a family approaches you about continuing visits privately after you have left, or before you have left, please tell us. We will not be angry. We would rather know. It helps us make sure the person being visited is protected regardless of what happens next.

This rule is not about distrust. It is about ensuring that the people you visit are always within a framework that protects them — whether that framework is Connectea's, or a new one they and their family have consciously chosen. The moment you leave Connectea, they deserve to know that clearly, so they can make that choice with full information.

• We will give you the training and support you need before your first visit
• We will be available to answer questions and help you navigate anything that comes up
• We will take any concern you raise seriously and respond promptly
• We will treat you with respect and dignity
• We will take your own wellbeing seriously — not just the wellbeing of the people you visit
• We will be honest with you if something needs to change