Privacy Policy

Abingdon Carousel is committed to complying with the terms of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and to the responsible and secure use of your personal data.  The purpose of this statement is to let you know what personal information Abingdon Carousel collects and holds, why we collect this data, how long it is kept and your rights over your personal data. Abingdon Carousel is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

  1. Types of information we hold about you and how long we keep it
  • We collect personal information from you if you and your child attend our service. This information includes your names, date(s) of birth of child(ren), contact details such as phone number, address, and email address, children’s details, health information, next of kin, emergency contact. For the purposes of funding applications and monitoring the accessibility of our services we may keep data such as employment status, ethnicity, gender, age, and other relevant personal information which you are not obliged to give us if you do not want to. We will review all personal information held by the service each year. We keep anonymised information relevant to the monitoring of our services and for grant application purposes for a period of 5 years. All identifiable information will be destroyed when your family has not accessed our service for 12 months.
  • When you enquire about courses, workshops, talks, fundraising events or volunteering at Abingdon Carousel, we ask for contact details and relevant personal information from you that is needed to answer your enquiries and to keep you informed about upcoming events that may be of interest to you. This data is stored securely for as long as you agree to be kept informed of our activities. You are free to opt out/unsubscribe from these communications at any time – every email will have an unsubscribe option at the bottom of the email, or by e-mailing us at office@abingdoncarousel.org.uk or phoning on 01235 526691.
  • Financial Information: most of our services do not have a fee and are on a donation only basis. However, where any fees are chargeable, we are obliged under HMRC requirements to keep financial records for 6 years from the end of the last financial year which they relate to – this includes all money received and from whom.
  • Retaining information for safeguarding purposes: It is our duty under section 11 of the Children Act 2004 to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This may include us storing personal information for both adults and children such as contact details, medical information, gender, age, date of birth, and sensitive information relating to specific safeguarding concerns/ incidents. We will retain any data relating to safeguarding of children and families using the centre until the child turns 25 as per government guidance.
  • Anonymised data used for monitoring services and grant reporting will be kept indefinitely.
  1. How we use this information

We will use your personal data to:

  • create a family record on our database for the purposes of registering you at sessions, to monitor and evaluate the service we offer you and to ensure your safety and well-being when accessing the service.
  • give you information about our service i.e. informing you of any cancellation/changes to sessions, informing you about new services that we think you will be interested in.
  • to enable staff to contact you if you have not attended sessions for a period of time so we can check on you and your families wellbeing.
  • for producing anonymised data for grant funding applications.
  1. Upholding our legal duties

We use your information in compliance with data legislation, principally:

  • the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA2018)
  • the UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR)
  • the Privacy and Electronics Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR2003)
  1. Security

In order to ensure that your information is used appropriately and that your privacy is respected, we will take steps to ensure that your information is kept as safe as possible –

  • All electronic data will be password protected and encrypted.
  • Hard copies will be kept in a lockable cabinet. We will endeavour to keep this accurate and up to date.
  • Only those staff and volunteers who need to do so will access your personal information.
  1. Who we share information with

We will not share your personal details with any other person or organisation without your knowledge and permission unless there is a child or adult safeguarding issue, other legal requirement or a serious or immediate health and safety issue or incident.

Typically, depending on circumstances, we share information with the following types of organisations:

  • Educational establishments e.g. schools/ early years settings
  • Health and social care professionals e.g. NHS organisations such as Health Visitors or Social Services
  • Other organisations working with families e.g. Home Start, other family /children centres, SEND services.

Where we do share you information, we will still be responsible for it and will take steps to ensure that those it is shared with keep your information secure, and that they also comply with relevant legislation. Where NHS Data Opt-Out applies, we will comply.

  1. Your rights over your personal data

In addition to your right to be informed about how we use your information, you also have the right (free of charge) to request the following:

  • If you would like to see the information we hold about you, or would like to correct, update or delete any records or withdraw your consent, please do so by written request i.e. in an email or letter. We will respond within a month of receiving the request.
  • To restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances in accordance with applicable law.
  • In some instances, to object to your personal information being used at all due to special grounds relating to your particular situation – however there may be compelling reasons why we may need to continue using your information even in these circumstances.
  • To be told if your personal information is lost and if, as a result, your privacy and right may be at risk.
  • To ask for all personal information held by us to be transferred to another data controller.

In addition to the above, if we have no legal basis to process your information other than the fact that you gave us your consent, then you have the following additional rights:

  • To withdraw your consent to process your information.
  • In some circumstances, to ask for your personal information to be sent to another organisation in a suitable format.
  • To withhold permission for your information to be shared.
  1. Questions/Complaints

If you have any queries or concerns about our use of your data, please contact our Centre Manager directly at Abingdon Carousel on 01235 526691 or via email: office@abingdoncarousel.org.uk. We will do our utmost to answer your queries and resolve any concerns you have. If these are not resolved to your satisfaction, you may contact the Information Commissioners Office by telephoning their helpline on 0303123113, or accessing their live chat facility on the website at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.