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 privacy@meersbrookhall.org.uk.
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 the membership form deliberately short. It does not ask for your address, phone number, age, ethnicity or disability. We may sometimes run separate surveys asking about things like this, because funders and Sheffield City Council want to know who the project reaches, but those are answered anonymously and we do not connect the answers back to your membership record.
Volunteering
When you apply to volunteer through our online form, we collect your name, email address, phone number, the role you are interested in and when you are available. For roles that involve driving, we also ask whether you hold a UK driving licence. We use this to contact you about volunteering and to arrange your involvement. Applications are read by our volunteer coordinator and are not shared outside the committee. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests: you have asked to volunteer, and we need to be able to reach you to make that happen.
The form also asks whether there is anything that would make it easier for you to volunteer with us. If you say yes, our volunteer coordinator will get in touch to talk it through. We do not ask you to tell us about your health or any disability. If we agree something with you, such as a particular role or an access arrangement, we record only what we have agreed to do, and only with your explicit permission. That record is kept apart from your application and is seen only by the volunteer coordinator, our data protection lead and our Chair.
The form also asks for the name and phone number of someone we can contact in an emergency. Please check they are happy for you to give us their details. We use them only if something happens to you while you are volunteering.
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, enable the Do Not Track setting in your browser and we will respect it.
Our web server also keeps standard logs, including IP addresses, for security purposes.
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 record a retention period for every type of data we hold, alongside how it gets deleted. Membership records are kept for the duration of your membership plus two years. Enquiries and correspondence are kept while they remain relevant to the project, reviewed each year, because our correspondence about the Hall, its funding and the asset transfer is the record of how the project got here. Financial records, including donations, are kept for six years, which is the standard period for accounts. Website statistics are kept as raw data for thirteen months, with aggregate figures retained after that. Newsletter subscriptions are kept until you unsubscribe. Volunteer details are kept for two years after we were last in touch with you. Emergency contact details, and any arrangements we have agreed to support your volunteering, are deleted when you stop volunteering, or if you do not go on to volunteer with us. If you ask to be removed from our records we will act within 30 days.
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, file storage and online forms are all hosted by Webarchitects, a registered co-operative society regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our newsletter is sent using EmailOctopus. We also hold a legacy contact list in Mailchimp, which we are in the process of closing. All are used under their standard terms. We do not share personal data in an identifiable form with other community organisations.
Transfers outside the UK
Our hosting, email, file storage, online forms and website statistics are all held in the UK. EmailOctopus and Mailchimp 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 privacy@meersbrookhall.org.uk. 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 our website.
Last updated: September 2026
