Community guidelines and safety

1. Be real

• Use recent photos of yourself, where your face is clearly visible in at least one.
• Give your real age and date of birth. You must be 18 or over.
• One account per person. Do not pretend to be someone else.
• Describe how you actually move. Nobody minds if you are just starting out.

2. Be respectful

• Treat people the way you would want to be treated, online and in person.
• Take no for an answer. If someone does not reply, unmatches or turns down a date, leave it there.
• Respect people’s boundaries, privacy and pace.
• Do not share someone’s messages, photos or personal details outside Stride without their permission.

3. Not allowed on Stride

• Harassment and threats: bullying, intimidation, stalking, unwanted repeated contact, or trying to find out where someone lives.
• Hate: content that attacks people for their race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or age.
• Sexual content and nudity: nude or sexually explicit photos or messages, or sexual content sent without consent.
• Minors: anyone under 18, or any content that sexualises or endangers children. We report this to the authorities.
• Scams and spam: asking for money, gifts, investments or financial details, romance scams, fake profiles, bots, or repetitive messages.
• Selling and promotion: advertising, selling products or services, or recruiting for other apps, social accounts or businesses.
• Violence and illegal activity: threats of violence, glorifying violence, or promoting illegal drugs, weapons or other illegal activity.
• Contact details and links in your profile: phone numbers, email addresses and links are blocked from profile text, and please do not add social media handles either. Share contact details only when you are ready, in chat.

4. Meet safely

Most dates are great. A little planning helps keep them that way.

• Get to know them first. Chat before you meet, and take your time.
• Meet in public. Choose busy places such as a parkrun, a popular café or a well-used park. Do not meet at your home or theirs on a first date.
• Pick a busy route in daylight for active dates. Avoid remote trails, empty towpaths or quiet water for a first meeting.
• Tell a friend. Share who you are meeting, where and when, and check in with them afterwards.
• Get yourself there and back. Use your own transport, and keep your phone charged.
• Stay within your ability. Choose an activity you are both comfortable with. For open-water swimming, swim at a supervised venue.
• Stay in control. Keep an eye on your drink and know your limits.
• Never send money or share bank, card or financial details, however convincing the story.
• Trust your instincts. If something feels wrong, you can leave at any time. You do not owe anyone an explanation.

5. Report, block and unmatch

Open the person’s profile or your chat with them and tap the … (more options) button at the top of the screen. You will see:

• Report: tell us what is happening, for example a fake profile, inappropriate photos, offensive messages, harassment, someone who seems under 18, a safety concern, or spam or a scam. You can add details. Reporting also blocks the person by default.
• Block: they will no longer see you, your profile or your chat, and you will not see them. They are not told.
• Unmatch: ends the match and removes the conversation for both of you.

You can see and undo blocks in Profile → Account → Blocked people.

You can also report someone by emailing support@stridedating.co.uk, including what happened and, if you can, their display name and when you matched.

6. What we do with reports

• Every report reaches our moderation team and is reviewed by a person.
• We look at the report, the reported profile and, where relevant, the conversation.
• Depending on what we find, we may take no action, give a warning, remove content, restrict features, or permanently ban the account and stop them returning.
• Where someone may be at risk of harm, or the law requires it, we may contact the police or other authorities and share relevant information with them.
• The person you report is not told who reported them.

We aim to review reports within 24 hours, and faster for anything involving safety or minors.

7. Getting help

• Emergency: call 999. Non-emergency police: 101.
• Fraud and scams: Action Fraud, actionfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040 (Police Scotland: 101).
• Sexual violence support: Rape Crisis, rapecrisis.org.uk.
• Domestic abuse: National Domestic Abuse Helpline, 0808 2000 247.
• Anything about Stride: support@stridedating.co.uk, or see Support.