We are here for you.

Important note. This page is general guidance, not legal, medical, or professional advice. The scenarios below were reviewed by the Hate Matters board and adopted unanimously.

1. If you are concerned about a colleague at work.

Many supporters write to us about a colleague who has, in some way, given them cause for concern. We understand. Workplaces are intimate environments. The behaviour of others matters. Below is the recommended approach.

1. Identify, in writing, the specific behaviour that has concerned you. Be precise. We have found that "I have a feeling about Linda" is, while not incorrect, insufficient as a record.
2. Review your written record. If, on review, you find that no specific behaviour has occurred, consider whether your concern is, nonetheless, valid. We believe it may be.
3. Document your concern in a dated note. Keep a copy. Keep a second copy elsewhere. Keep a third copy with a friend.
4. If your colleague has not, in fact, done anything, this is itself a piece of information worth recording. We have a template for this.
5. Submit a copy of your record to Hate Matters. We maintain a register of these matters and your contribution is welcome. Our address is hatematters@proton.me.
6. Continue, as before, to be a colleague. We do not recommend confrontation. We recommend documentation. Documentation is, in our view, the more effective tool.

If, at any stage, you are unsure how to proceed, please write to Hate Matters. We will reply when we are able.

2. If you are worried about your child's school.

Schools are, for most parents, the institution they interact with most regularly. It is therefore unsurprising that a great many of our supporters write to us about their child's school. The recommended steps follow.

1. Make a note of what, exactly, has worried you. If your child has reported something, record what they said, when they said it, and what you think they meant. Children are not always precise. We have allowed for this in step 4.
2. Consult our template letter to your child's school. It is available in the Hate Library.
3. Send the letter. Address it to either the headteacher or the chair of the governing body. Both are appropriate. Neither, on the available evidence, is more likely to reply.
4. If your child's account is, on reflection, not specific enough to support the letter, send the letter regardless. The letter does not depend on a specific incident. It depends on the principle.
5. If you receive a reply, forward it to Hate Matters. If the reply invites you to a meeting, attend. Take notes. Forward the notes to Hate Matters.
6. If you do not receive a reply, write again. Then write to the local authority. Then write to your MP. We have a template for each.

If, at any stage, you are unsure how to proceed, please write to Hate Matters. We will reply when we are able.

3. If you are facing an Employment Tribunal.

An Employment Tribunal is, for most people, a stressful experience. Hate Matters has not, itself, faced an Employment Tribunal. We understand they are tense. The following guidance is offered in solidarity, and on the basis of careful general reading.

1. Obtain proper legal representation. We are not legal representation. We are not, in fact, lawyers. We refer you to What Courts Get Wrong, our analysis of court reasoning, which has been declined by three court proceedings to date.
2. Document everything. By "everything", we mean: every meeting, every email, every conversation, every silence. We have a template. It is, in this case, slightly different from the other templates.
3. Keep a record of who, in your workplace, has supported you and who has not. This is, in our view, important information. We would welcome a copy for our register.
4. Read our position papers in advance of any hearing. We do not promise they will be admissible. We do, however, believe they will be clarifying for you personally.
5. If the Tribunal rules in your favour, please notify Hate Matters. We will publicise the outcome. If it does not, please also notify us. We will note the Tribunal in the register.

If, at any stage, you are unsure how to proceed, please write to Hate Matters. We will reply when we are able. We recommend, in this instance, that you also speak to a solicitor. We are not a solicitor.

4. If you have noticed something on a form.

A small but committed proportion of our correspondence concerns forms. Forms are, in their nature, structured. When a form is unstructured in a way the supporter has not anticipated, this can be unsettling. The recommended approach follows.

1. Photograph the form. Photograph it again, at a different angle, in case the first photograph is not clear.
2. Identify the specific field that has concerned you. Write down the wording exactly. Underline it. Underline it twice if it concerns you twice as much.
3. Consider whether the field, as worded, has any practical effect on you personally. We acknowledge that, in many cases, it will not. We do not consider this dispositive.
4. Write to the body that issued the form. Cite the field. Cite our position. Use formal language. We have a template available on request.
5. Send the photograph, the wording, and the reply (if any) to Hate Matters. We are compiling a record of forms. The record is, at present, of considerable length.

If, at any stage, you are unsure how to proceed, please write to Hate Matters. We will reply when we are able.

5. If you wish to start a local group.

Hate Matters supports the formation of local groups in towns and cities across the United Kingdom. We do not, ourselves, organise these groups. We are, however, prepared to recognise them. The recommended approach is as follows.

1. Identify, in your local area, three to five individuals who share your views. We acknowledge that this is sometimes the most difficult step. We have considered ways to make it easier. We have not yet identified one.
2. Convene a first meeting. We recommend a private home, a function room, or, if neither is available, a quiet corner of a pub. Hate Matters cannot offer a venue. We have considered this.
3. At the first meeting, the principal item of business should be the establishment of a local register. The register may be informal at this stage. It should, however, be in writing.
4. Notify Hate Matters of the formation of your group. We will add your group to our central register of local groups. The central register is currently short.
5. Forward, on a regular basis, the contents of your local register to Hate Matters. Frequency is at your discretion. Quarterly is, we have found, a comfortable cadence.
6. Continue to meet. Continue to register. We do not require, and indeed do not anticipate, that local groups will undertake substantive activity beyond meeting and registering. The activity is the meeting. The activity is the register.

If, at any stage, you are unsure how to proceed, please write to Hate Matters. We will reply when we are able.

A note on the structure of this page. We have been asked, on occasion, why so many of our recommendations conclude with writing to Hate Matters. We have considered this question. Our considered view is that writing to Hate Matters is, in most cases, the appropriate next step.