Are you able to...

  • Contribute genuine, non-AI content with good grammar and spelling?
  • Search for and consider replying to existing posts before creating your own?
  • Be open-minded and respectful of opinions, even if they frustrate you?
  • Follow the rules, and be patient and open to forum changes?

In return we give you...

  • A consultative management style welcoming your suggestions
  • A safe space where decency, fairness, and respect come first
  • An easy-to-navigate forum, organised, and with human support available
  • Core values of acceptance, independence, listening, and transparency

You will need these to join

Why we have this process

  • To eliminate bots and spam, protecting the site’s future
  • To ensure only genuine, well-meaning people join us
  • To prevent the forum becoming another toxic battleground

Frequently Asked Questions

While we understand that being asked for your National Insurance Number (NIN) may discourage some people, after careful consideration and research, it remains the most reliable identifier available. Email addresses and phone numbers are disposable, not everyone has a driving licence or passport, and we certainly wouldn’t ask for biometric data.

National Insurance Numbers:

  • Are anonymous on their own
  • Are issued to everyone in the UK
  • Ensure applicants are aged 16 or over
  • Effectively prevent bots from registering
  • Help stop banned members from reapplying under different identities

To be clear, declined applications can still be resubmitted, and members may request additional accounts where appropriate. The sole purpose of requesting your NIN is to prevent ban evasion and maintain a respectful community.

By understanding that each member can only successfully apply once, people are more likely to take their membership seriously. Knowing they cannot evade a ban helps create a safer community where members value their accounts and behave responsibly.

When you provide your NIN, we will first hash it and then check for a matching hash in our secure spreadsheet. If the hash already exists, this means you have previously completed the application process and been granted an account, so your new application will be rejected.

This prevents the same individual from applying for multiple accounts, effectively preventing ban evasion.

We treat all members fairly and in line with our core values, so permanent bans are extremely rare for typical members. Additionally, we have fair and robust appeals processes in place to ensure everyone is given the opportunity to contest any decisions.

Your NIN will be hashed using SHA-256, which converts it into a unique 64-character string, like the example below. The same NIN will always produce the same hash, but it is practically impossible to reverse the hash to discover the original NIN. Think of it like the secret KFC recipe: if you follow the same recipe, you get the same taste every time, but simply tasting the chicken won’t reveal the secret ingredients.

This differs from encryption, which is reversible. Imagine putting the secret KFC recipe in a safe — only someone with the correct key can open it and access the recipe. Without the key, it remains locked, but if the key is stolen, the safe can be opened.

Example hash: bbce99c0b71be1b9d67796801e7357aed8fe2c96c3cb2bc6654bcd4a25dec4bc

We use this tool to hash your NIN: https://trustforums.co.uk/other/hash/

The resulting hash is stored in a secure spreadsheet, mixed among other hashes, with the only column containing these hashes. It is simply not possible to trace a hash back to its user. The spreadsheet itself is held on a completely separate server with distinct credentials. You may request to view this spreadsheet during the anonymous video call, or watch as we hash your NIN and add it to the spreadsheet in real time.

Yes.

Although the government website advises, “to prevent identity fraud, do not share your National Insurance number with anyone who does not need it,” this warning applies when someone has other identifiable information about you that could be combined to commit fraud or scams.

However, because we only take your National Insurance number without any other personal details, it’s like finding a lost key in the street—you wouldn’t know what door it opens. For example, do you know who PA 53 37 96 D belongs to? Without additional information, it’s impossible to find out.

Ideally, we will ask for evidence of your National Insurance number during the anonymous video call. However, if your application requires further consideration, we may request a video at a later stage, which will be permanently deleted after review. Please do not be alarmed or offended if your application needs further review — we will provide feedback where possible.

The acceptable methods are:

  • Show us your National Insurance number card with your name covered, and run an object over the raised numbers so we can confirm their authenticity.
  • Log in to your personal tax account on the government website and navigate to the page displaying your National Insurance number. At the time of writing, this page does not reveal any other personal information. We will ask you to navigate around a bit to prove the website is live and not a screenshot.
  • Log in to the HMRC app and visit the National Insurance number page. We will also ask you to navigate around the app to verify it is genuine. Please be careful, as accidentally returning to a previous page may expose your name.

We do not accept other methods such as payslips or HMRC paperwork, as these documents can be easily forged. If you have an alternative method not listed here, please let us know and we will consider it.

If we are not fully satisfied that the National Insurance number provided is genuine, we may request additional evidence on a case-by-case basis; however, this has not been necessary so far.

The National Insurance Number (NIN) requirement is unrelated to the Not About Online Safety Act.

We were already planning to introduce this requirement before the act was announced. The intention is to confirm that members are UK-based, which incidentally ensures that applicants are also at least 16, a while ago. The NIN is collected anonymously and never shared with third parties.

We’re always keeping an eye out on things like this, but we cannot stand still and wait for announcements, so we will continue with National Insurance Numbers and we will adapt in the future as we need to. If National Insurance Numbers were removed, then this could mean we would have to ask all members to submit the new unique idenfier, however NINs are so integrated in to society that we do not see this happening any time soon – not enough to worry right now anyway.

Although not a question that is frequently asked, some think that a VPN would allow them to bypass the application process.

Firstly, IP bans are entirely pointless, as if you ban a home IP address, the IP address is usually dynamic, and if you ban a busines IP address, you may be banning people who use the same network. In both cases, innocent people will eventually receive an IP address that has been banned becaue of someone elses actions. A VPN would easily get around an IP ban, but if all IPs that the VPN can offer were banned, then the VPN becomes useless too.

No VPN will change your National Insurance Number, so you would not be able to register again regardless of what IP or VPN you have. In fact, as we can’t stop our forum software or underlying web server from logging IP addresses, we encourage the use of a VPN for a level of privacy… but it won’t grant another account.

There is no charge for the initial application or ongoing membership, and there never will be. While we may introduce optional paid features in the future to help fund the site, the core content and all essential features will always be completely free and never placed behind a paywall. This is not a business—any money received will be directly reinvested into the site.

We ask for good grammar and spelling so that all members can clearly understand each other. Writing in proper UK English reduces the risk of misunderstandings and ensures everyone, regardless of background or reading ability, can follow the discussion. Clear writing keeps conversations flowing smoothly and makes the forum welcoming for all. We are also adults 🙂

This includes:

  • Using full words in British English and British units
  • Avoiding excessive capitals, which can be interpreted as shouting
  • Typing in full words rather than using text-speak (e.g. “idk wat 2 do b4 lol”)
  • Explaining any abbreviations you use, either alongide them or in a list
  • Keeping sentences clear and concise, to encourage people to read all of your content
  • Using paragraphs to separate ideas rather than writing one long block of text

We don’t expect perfection, and making a few mistakes is completely fine. Everyone slips up occasionally, and a minor typo or misplaced comma won’t ever be criticised here. What matters most is that you’re trying to communicate clearly and respectfully. Focus on making your posts readable and easy to understand, rather than worrying about every single word or punctuation mark.

You can use tools such as AI or word processors to help polish your posts. AI often does a good job checking for clarity, consistency, formatting, grammar, tone, and spelling, but it can sometimes misinterpret your intended meaning, make changes that feel too formal or unnatural, or over-correct your style. Suggestions for custom instructions and prompts are available on the forum, but a simple example is to tell AI that you live in the United Kingdom, so it should use British English, currencies, formats, units, and so on. If you use AI, please make sure to manually review the content before publishing it.

You are encouraged to use emojis to convey emotion or tone, which can help prevent misunderstandings. For example, “Fine, we’ll do it your way” could be read as annoyed or passive-aggressive, but “Fine, we’ll do it your way 😉” comes across as playful teasing or light sarcasm.

Although forums aren’t as dominant as they once were, they remain vibrant spaces for in-depth discussions within strong, tight-knit communities like this one — the kind of connections you won’t find on social media.

Mainstream platforms increasingly rely on algorithms, artificial engagement, and content manipulation to maximise user attention and profit, creating walled gardens of sanitised content. Many users grow tired of this, alongside issues like poor moderation, rising toxicity, and invasive data farming for advertising revenue.

In contrast, forums operate without algorithms controlling what you see or bots artificially inflating engagement. There’s no data farming or profit-driven content manipulation here—just genuine, member-driven discussion.

Additionally, as social media giants push AI companion bots and monetise user authenticity—for example, X (formerly Twitter) now charging to verify genuine profiles—forums offer a refreshing alternative. They prioritise real people, real conversations, and community values over profit.

This makes forums an important refuge for those seeking meaningful interaction away from the noise, manipulation, and commercial pressures of other platforms.

Unfortunately, no. Disposable or temporary emails often fail to reliably receive important emails from us, including essential service updates.

We strongly encourage you to use a permanent alternative email address instead of your main email. Services like Microsoft’s Alias feature allow you to create multiple email addresses under one account, keeping your main inbox private while ensuring reliable communication.

Alternatively, you may use an email forwarding service such as Firefox Relay. This lets you manage messages without exposing your main email. Just be aware that if we send you an email requiring a direct reply, forwarding services may prevent you from responding easily. Currently, our system allows you to click links in our emails to view and reply to messages, though this could change.

Please note: if you lose access to your registered email address and then encounter a forum issue requiring email verification, account recovery will be impossible. We do not store personal data beyond what you provide, so without a working email, we cannot verify ownership. Using a permanent, reliable email or forwarding service helps you avoid this risk.

You don’t need to be living in the UK when you apply, but you must have lived in the UK at some point in the past to have been issued a National Insurance number.

Keeping the forum UK-only helps us maintain focused, relevant content tailored to local interests and culture, without the Americanisation or broader generalisation often found on larger platforms.

There is no official minimum or maximum age restriction to join. However, since registration requires a National Insurance number – and you must be at least 16 to have one – only those aged 16 or over can realistically register.

We expect members to contribute at least a few times a month, but there’s no strict requirement.

If you become inactive, the forum software will automatically email you a summary of what you’ve missed—consider it a gentle reminder to check in.

Accounts inactive for more than two years may be removed, but we will always contact you beforehand. Even a simple reply confirming you still want to be a member is enough to keep your account active. We understand that life gets busy, so there’s no need to rush or stress to maintain your membership.

Please use the contact buttons to contact us. We will be happy to answer any questions.

Application Process

Before applying, please take time to review:

  • This page, so you understand what we’re looking for, what you’ll gain from us, and what the process involves
  • The homepage, to get a clear sense of our mission, values, and how you can contribute
  • The forum itself, to ensure the content you’d post fits with our existing discussions and to get a feel for the community
  • The forum information board, which outlines our rules, terms, and expectations you’ll need to follow

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us before applying. We’re always happy to help.

The application form has three sections:

  • Basic details – such as your email address
  • Situational judgement test – four questions about how you would act in specific forum scenarios
  • Example post – a title and the contents of the kind of post you might write (either real or fictional)

The form guides you through each step and, where appropriate, explains why we request certain information. You can save your progress and return to it later.

We are not looking for perfection—your answers should simply reflect your genuine approach and personality. If anything is unclear, we’re available to help and answer any questions before or during the application process.

If your application is declined because we feel you are not a good fit for the forum, we will try to provide feedback, although this may not always be possible. You may appeal our decision, but if you choose not to appeal—or your appeal is unsuccessful—you must wait six months before applying again.

It’s important that you answer honestly and do not use AI tools or other people to write your responses. If we later discover dishonesty, we will remove you from the forum permanently, as transparency is one of our core values, and you will never be able to reapply.

We will arrange a short video call with you via Telegram or Zoom, allowing you to remain completely anonymous.

  • You are not expected to show your face, and we will not show ours either
  • The call is not recorded by us, and you must not record it either
  • No screenshots or screen recordings are permitted by either party

The purpose of the call is to:

  • Confirm some of the details from your application and ask any clarifying questions
  • Give you the opportunity to ask us anything about the forum or process
  • Ensure you are human and that your responses are consistent with your application

This step is kept relaxed and informal—it’s not a job interview or a test. It’s simply an extra layer to ensure you’re a good fit for the community and to give you a chance to speak with us directly.

If your application is not decided on the call, we will confirm the outcome (or let you know when to expect it) within 48 hours, though in most cases it’s much sooner.

deally, we will ask for evidence of your National Insurance number during the anonymous video call (Step 4). However, if your application requires further consideration, we may request a video at a later stage, which will be permanently deleted after review. Please do not be alarmed or offended if your application needs further review — we will provide feedback where possible.

The acceptable methods are:

  • Show us your National Insurance number card with your name covered, and run an object over the raised numbers so we can confirm their authenticity.
  • Log in to your personal tax account on the government website and navigate to the page displaying your National Insurance number. At the time of writing, this page does not reveal any other personal information. We will ask you to navigate around a bit to prove the website is live and not a screenshot.
  • Log in to the HMRC app and visit the National Insurance number page. We will also ask you to navigate around the app to verify it is genuine. Please be careful, as accidentally returning to a previous page may expose your name.

We do not accept other methods such as payslips or HMRC paperwork, as these documents can be easily forged. If you have an alternative method not listed here, please let us know and we will consider it.

If we are not fully satisfied that the National Insurance number provided is genuine, we may request additional evidence on a case-by-case basis; however, this has not been necessary so far.

All videos or evidence provided are permanently deleted after review, and your NIN is securely hashed and stored anonymously to prevent multiple accounts or ban evasion. Please review the FAQ section for further information, or contact us.

You choose your username, and we manually create your forum account. Once that’s done, you’ll get full access to the forum immediately. For your first few posts, however, staff approval will be required to help maintain quality and keep the community safe.

Welcome to the community!

Ready?

Click here to open the application form
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