Friends of Meersbrook Hall (“FOMH”, “we”, “us”) is committed to protecting your personal data and being transparent about how we use it. This policy explains what we collect, why, and your rights under UK data protection law.
Who we are
FOMH is an unincorporated community association based in Sheffield. We are the data controller for the personal data we process. You can contact us about any data protection matter at [email protected].
We are committed to complying with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
What data we collect and why
Membership. When you sign up as a member via our online form, we collect your name, email address and postcode, and optionally any skills you would like to offer. We use this to keep you updated on the project, to seek your views, and to match volunteers to activities. We use postcodes to show funders and Sheffield City Council how much community support the project has across the area; we do not use them to identify you. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests: you are actively joining a community campaign and we have a legitimate interest in maintaining our membership list.
We keep this deliberately short. We do not ask for your address, phone number, age, ethnicity or disability.
Newsletter and email updates. Our sign-up form asks whether you would like to receive our newsletter. If you say yes, we use your email address to send you news about the project. Our lawful basis is consent, and you can unsubscribe using the link in any email we send.
Contact form submissions and email. When you contact us via the website or by email, we collect your name and email address and any information you choose to include in your message. We use this only to respond to your enquiry. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests.
Photos. We photograph our events and may publish images on our website and social media. Where we are photographing, we will tell you so at the event and you can ask us not to include you. If you would prefer not to appear in images we have already published, contact us and we will remove them promptly. We will not publish identifiable images of children without the consent of a parent or guardian.
Website statistics. We use Matomo to understand how our website is used, so that we can improve it. Matomo runs on our own hosting, operated for us by WebArchitects in the UK, and the data is not shared with anyone. It is configured not to use cookies and to discard part of your IP address before storing anything, so we cannot identify individual visitors. We collect only aggregate statistics such as which pages are viewed and how visitors found the site. We do not use this data for advertising or marketing, and we do not combine it with anything else we hold. If you would prefer not to be counted at all, you can opt out at [opt-out link to be inserted] or by enabling the Do Not Track setting in your browser, which we respect.
Our web server also keeps standard logs, including IP addresses, for security purposes.
WhatsApp. We operate a WhatsApp Community for members and supporters. Messages sent in those groups are subject to WhatsApp’s own privacy policy, which is outside our control. We do not store or process WhatsApp data outside of the app itself.
How long we keep your data
We keep membership data for as long as you remain a member. If you ask to be removed from our records we will delete your data within 30 days. Email correspondence is retained for as long as it remains relevant to the project. Website statistics are aggregate and are retained for up to 24 months. We do not have a formal retention schedule beyond this and will review our approach as the organisation develops.
Who we share your data with
We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it with third parties for marketing purposes.
Your data is held on platforms we use to run the group. Our email, website and file storage are hosted by WebArchitects, a UK co-operative. Our membership form responses are currently held by Google and on our own servers hosted by Web Architects, and our newsletter by EmailOctopus and MailChimp. All are used under their standard terms. We do not share personal data in an identifiable form with our partner organisations Heeley Development Trust or Meersbrook Park Users Trust.
Transfers outside the UK
Our hosting, email, file storage and website statistics are all held in the UK. Google and EmailOctopus may process data outside the UK, and both operate under standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards recognised under UK GDPR.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, to have inaccurate data corrected, to have your data deleted, to object to processing based on legitimate interests, to withdraw consent where you have given it, and to data portability. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within one month.
You also have the right to complain to the ICO at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be available on this page.
Last updated: August 2026
