Let’s Just Talk OK offers booked befriending calls by phone for adults aged 18 and over. We respect your privacy and aim to treat conversations confidentially. Confidentiality has limits: it is not a promise that everything said on a call will remain secret in every situation.
This page explains our service’s boundaries, using the customer terms, the obligations placed on our befrienders, and our notes policy. Please read the customer terms before booking and ask us about anything you do not understand.
When confidentiality may be broken
The customer terms list four circumstances in which confidentiality may be broken:
- Where disclosure is required by law.
- Where there is a credible threat of harm to you or someone else.
- Where criminal activity is disclosed.
- Where safeguarding concerns arise.
These are separate exceptions. The terms do not limit every exception to an immediate emergency, so we cannot offer that narrower promise. A befriending call is also not a confidential clinical consultation with a healthcare professional.
You choose what to discuss and how much detail to share. You can ask about the confidentiality limits before discussing a particular concern. If you need urgent help, use the services below rather than waiting for a booked conversation or an email reply.
What befrienders must pass on
Our agent terms require befrienders to escalate threats of self-harm, threats against others, disclosures of abuse, criminal activity and serious safeguarding concerns immediately, following the service’s safeguarding and escalation procedures. This means a befriender cannot promise to keep those matters solely between the two people on the call.
The same terms require respectful conduct and confidentiality. They prohibit sharing customer details outside authorised work, asking customers for money or gifts, sharing personal contact details, and communicating with customers outside approved systems. Confidentiality obligations continue after a befriender stops working with the service.
Calls are not recorded
Calls are not recorded. This applies to our phone-based befriending service. Written notes are separate from a recording: a befriender may write notes to help with future calls and safeguarding.
Your befriender rings the telephone number supplied with your booking from our office number. There is no video call or camera to set up. Read how it works for the booking steps and what happens at your appointment.
Who can see notes, and how long are they kept?
Our policy restricts access to notes to the befriender assigned to that customer and authorised administrators. Befrienders should only access customer information needed for their authorised work.
Notes are reviewed monthly. Routine notes are deleted at that review when at least 28 days have passed since the customer’s last call. This is a monthly review policy, not a promise of automatic deletion exactly on day 28. Notes connected with a safeguarding concern may be kept longer where necessary.
If you have a question about notes or information held about you, email admin@lets-just-talk-ok.co.uk. Please avoid sending sensitive details that are not needed to explain your question.
What the service cannot provide
Our calls are friendly, non-clinical conversations. Let’s Just Talk OK is not therapy, counselling, a medical service, a mental health crisis service or a substitute for emergency services. We do not diagnose conditions, give medical, legal or financial advice, guarantee emotional outcomes or intervene in emergencies.
Choosing a paid conversation does not replace professional care or urgent support when those are needed. You can read our frequently asked questions, learn about us, or return to the homepage before deciding whether a call suits you.
For the difference between ordinary conversation and professional support, read befriending or counselling.
Need help now?
If you cannot keep yourself or someone else safe, call 999 or go to A&E. For urgent mental health help in England, call NHS 111 and select the mental health option. Samaritans are available free, day or night, on 116 123. See our urgent-help page and NHS guidance. Do not wait for a booked call in an emergency.
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