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Terms of use

Welcome to our website and thank you for visiting!

The website accessed at the domain name mssociety.org.uk (the “Website”) and all the facilities and features made available on the Website, including any that need you to register to use, like our MS Forum discussion boards, donation page or SMS service (the “Website Services”), can only be accessed and used by you if you agree to these Terms of Use. 

By accessing and using our Website (as a guest or registered user), you agree you've read and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use.  If you don't agree to our Terms of Use you should stop accessing our Website and using our Website Services immediately.

We can change and update these Terms of Use at any time without giving you prior notice, but we will post any changes to the Terms of Use onto this area of the Website. These changes will be effective from the time they are posted.  You are responsible for regularly viewing these Terms of Use. By continuing to use our Website and/or our Website Services after we have posted any changes you're indicating you accept our new Terms of Use.

These Terms of Use and our Privacy notice govern the whole arrangement between us. If any part of these Terms of Use or the Privacy notice are found to be invalid or unenforceable then the remaining provisions will still be in force between us. 

About us

The Multiple Sclerosis Society is a registered charity (charity number 1139257) with its registered office at Carriage House, 8 City North Place, London N4 3FU (“us”, “we”, ”our” or the “MS Society”) with the objects of:

  • funding and promoting research into finding the cause of and cure for multiple sclerosis (MS), and improving care for people affected by MS
  • producing up to date, accurate and accessible information on MS issues, tailored to meet the needs of people affected by MS
  • providing support to all people affected by MS
  • raising standards of care for all people living with MS and
  • leading the MS agenda by increasing awareness of the devastating impact of MS on people’s lives, influencing decision-makers, and informing about the help, support and services the MS Society can provide.

Your account

The Website is intended only to be used by people who are 16 years old or older. If you're under 16, the Website is intended to be used only with the supervision of an adult.

There are certain parts of the Website you can only access and use if you are registered with us as a registered user.  By registering or attempting to register with us as a registered user you represent and warrant to us that:

  • you are aged 16 years old or older, or you are using the Website with the supervision of an adult and
  • your use of the Website is not in breach of any applicable laws or regulations.

Once you've registered with us you will be asked to use a user name and a password. You will always be responsible for any access of or use of the Website Services made using your username and password. We recommend your password is unique to this site with a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers. For extra security change your password regularly. Don't let anyone else access or use your account and don't access or use someone else’s account.

The use of the Website Services for gathering information for surveys and research studies or similar is prohibited unless we give you prior permission in writing.

Your use of our website

We're happy for you to access and use our Website on the understanding that it is only available for your personal use and not for promotional or commercial use and that you agree to comply with all applicable laws and regulations. You may, for your personal use;

  • retrieve and display content from the Website on a computer screen
  • print, but not photocopy, individual pages on paper and/or
  • store files in electronic form on disk (but not on any server or other storage device connected to a network).

Any data, text, or photos and any other material of whatever type which you upload, post, link to or share in any way using the Website Services (“Your Content”) will be your responsibility and any rights (whether intellectual property rights or otherwise) in Your Content will remain owned by you at all times.  By uploading, posting, linking to or sharing Your Content, you grant to us a licence which is worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free (and which includes the right to sub-licence or transfer the same to the extent required for operating the Website Services) allowing us to use, modify, publish, reproduce, store and distribute Your Content only in connection with the Website Services.  This licence will terminate only if you remove Your Content from the Website, except that you agree that the licence will continue solely with respect to other users’ continued use of any of Your Content that you may have shared with or made available to them.  You represent that you are entitled to grant this licence to us without being in breach of any applicable laws or regulations or the rights of anybody else.

You agree not to participate in any mischievous or malicious behaviour which causes damage or may cause damage to the MS Society or the Website, or any of the computer systems upon which the Website relies.

You must not send unsolicited messages for the purposes of advertising a product or service on the Website.

You agree to respect the privacy of other users of the Website, including those who you have been privately messaging. You must not pass on details to third parties (except the MS Society) without permission of the individual in question. By sending or receiving a private message you consent to it being viewed by us where we have been notified of or have a reasonable suspicion of a problem or a breach of these Terms of Use.

In consideration of the use of the Website Services, you agree unconditionally and irrevocably to waive in respect of Your Content, any moral rights to which you may now or at any future time be entitled under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as amended from time to time in force anywhere in the world.

We may, at our discretion, deactivate at any time an account which has been used to upload content (including usernames and passwords) which we believe to be:

  • obscene, defamatory or libellous, vulgar, sexually orientated, hateful, threatening or in violation of any laws or good morals or practice
  • containing contact details of other individuals (emails, phone numbers, fax numbers or postal addresses) without the prior consent of those individuals
  • containing advertisements or references to products or services without our prior consent
  • excessive repetition of that content or
  • an infringement of another party’s rights (including, but not limited to, intellectual property rights and rights of privacy and publicity).

Notwithstanding that at no time will we be obliged to pre-check the contents posted via the discussion system or commenting facilities.  We make no guarantee nor representation as to the accuracy, integrity, timeliness or quality of information on the Website. 

We may from time to time also edit or remove posts which are contrary to these Terms of Use or not constructive to the overall purpose of the MS Society.

Our content

All material, content and trademarks or logos on the Website, except for Your Content, and all intellectual property rights in the same are owned by or licensed to the MS Society and are protected by the applicable intellectual property rights and laws.

Except for the authorised use of the Website, in accordance with these Terms of Use, you agree not to download, copy, translate, modify, archive, distribute, publish, sell or make any other unauthorised use of the materials, content and trademarks or logos on the Website without our prior written consent. You agree not to use the content of the Website for any illegal or improper purpose, and you agree not to remove the copyright or trade mark notice(s) from any copies of content properly made in accordance with these Terms of Use.

Your personal information

We collect personal information about you for the purposes of providing you with the Website Services.  Our collection and use of your personal information is carried out in compliance with our Privacy notice. By agreeing to these Terms of Use, you also confirm that you give your consent to our collection and use of your personal information as set out in our Privacy notice.

Our liability

Any content, advice, commentary or other materials which is made available on the Website does not form advice on which you should place reliance.  The material is intended for educational purposes only and should not be taken in place of professional advice.

Use of the Website Services is entirely at your own risk.

The information contained on these pages is of a general nature and is intended to provide a public information service, free of charge. The information should not be relied upon or used without first confirming the accuracy of it with the MS Society.

Information on the Website is subject to change without prior notice. Whilst every reasonable effort is made to ensure that the information on the Website is complete, correct and up to date, this cannot be guaranteed and the MS Society shall not be liable whatsoever for any damages incurred as a result of its use.

You will not acquire any rights, whether contractual, in tort or otherwise as a result of the information contained on the Website.  The MS Society, its trustees, directors, employees, agents, officers and other persons connected with the creation, maintenance or dissemination of these pages will not be liable for any damage or loss, direct or indirect, occasioned by the use of the Website or the Website Services. Any contract for the supply of goods or provision of services concluded as a result of the publication of the information shall be subject to the standard terms and conditions of supply of the MS Society which will be provided at the time of conclusion of the contract. The MS Society expressly excludes all conditions, warranties and other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute or common law.

Nothing in these Terms of Use excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent mis-representation or any other matter for which we are not permitted to exclude as a matter of applicable law. If you are dissatisfied with any of the Website material or Website Services or with any of the Terms of Use, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the Website and the Website Services.

Your indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold the MS Society and any of its officers, employees and agents harmless from and against all and any expenses, losses, liabilities, damages, costs or expenses of any character incurred or suffered and any claims or legal proceedings which are brought or threatened, in each case arising from your use of or conduct on the Website or the Website Services and/or a breach of any of the Terms of Use.

Third party websites

The Website may include links to websites of other parties as a result of automated search facilities, or associations of the MS Society, but these links do not mean that we endorse or in any way guarantees those third party websites or any of the goods or services offered on them.

The Website may also include links to other websites and services we operate which will be subject to their own terms of use and privacy policies which you should make yourself aware of prior to accessing or using them. We are not be liable for any content or any of the goods or services on any third party website or websites which are not those from which the Website Services are made available.

Applicable laws

These Terms of Use and accompanying Privacy notice are governed by the laws of England and Wales and you shall irrevocably agree, subject to the paragraph below, that the Courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute which may arise out of, under, or in connection with these Terms of Use or your use of the Website or arising in any way from the content of the Website or use of the Website Services.

For our exclusive benefit, we shall retain the right to bring proceedings as to the substance of the matter in the courts of your country of residence, or where these Terms of Use are entered into in the course of your trade or profession, the country of your principal place of business.

Suspension of access

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Website and Website Services at any time, with or without notice or explanation.

SMS services

Our SMS service is provided by a third party provider. The use of any SMS service is governed by the rules detailed when you subscribe for that Website Service as well as the Privacy notice. We will not be liable for any delays or failures in your receipt of SMS messages.