Privacy Policy

 

Closeup of red letterbox marked privateWhy we have a privacy policy

Volunteer Centre Sutton was established in 1965. We are the go-to people for volunteering in the London Borough of Sutton, enabling individuals who want to volunteer locally to find relevant opportunities to do so, and supporting organisations in the recruitment and management of their volunteer teams. We also run several volunteering projects responding to local need: Mentoring Advocacy Peer Support (MAPS), Sutton Befrienders and Citizens Commissioners.

We know that you take your privacy seriously, and we want to be transparent about our practices regarding personal data so that you have control over the information we collect about you. This privacy policy explains how we collect, store, use, share and retain personal data, describes your rights when it comes to your personal data and lets you know how you can get in touch with us. It applies to all personal data we control and/or process, including the personal data of our employees, volunteers, supporters, and users of our services, including online users.

Laptop with Matrix style iconsWhat personal data we collect

The exact personal data we collect depends on what we use it for, but we will only collect personal data that we actually need in relation to our work and services that we provide.

The kinds of information we may collect:

  • Personal contact details such as name, gender, date of birth, email address
  • Home address, Phone Number
  • Ethnicity, sexual orientation
  • Medical information or information about disabilities
  • Names of dependents, names of contact details of next of kin
  • Education history, grades, employment history, job position and salary
  • Financial and banking details
  • Insurance details
  • Assessment information, relevant medical information, special educational needs information, exclusions / behavioural information
  • Records of events attended
  • Information about owned devices e.g. browser, operating system, IP address
  • Information required for Disclosure Barring Service (DBS)

Happy digital nativesWhy we need these details

We collect information about you when you instruct us to provide advice; visit our website; subscribe to our newsletters or to receive our publications; apply for employment with us; attend our training sessions and engage in business dealings with us. Regarding involvement in our projects, information may be provided to us to complete a service.

The information is either needed to fulfil your request or to enable us to provide you with a more personalised service. You don't have to disclose any of this information. However, if you choose to withhold requested information, we may not be able to provide you with certain services. Specific professional information may be collated from referrals, professionals, schools, social workers to enable delivery of services.

We also gather general information about the use of our website, such as which pages users visit most often, and which are of most interest. We also track which pages users visit when they click on links sent in Volunteer Centre Sutton emails. We may use this information to personalise the way our website is presented when users visit it, to make improvements to our website and to ensure we provide the best service for users. We will only use aggregated or anonymous information which does not identify individual visitors to our website. Please see the section below on Cookies.

Marketing

Consent for use of your photographic, video, audio will be obtained separately. Any information you give us for marketing purposes e.g. in a blog post on our website, a quote on promotional material, etc will be anonymised unless you have given specific consent to be named.

ClipboardHow we obtain your personal data

We collect your personal information in a number of ways:

  • When you provide it to us directly, e.g. when you enquire about our activities, make a referral for yourself or another person, send or receive an e-mail, donate to us, ask a question or otherwise provide us with personal information
  • When you provide permission to other organisations to share it with us (including Facebook or Twitter)
  • When we collect it as you use our websites
  • When you have given it to a third party and you have provided permission to pass your information on to us, e.g. when you register through our online volunteering database, Volunteer Connect
  • When a professional refers you to our services

We combine the information from these sources with the information you provide to us directly.Where you ask us to provide a specific service, you may be asked to give consent to your data being collected. This may be verbally, online or by signed consent form, and this particularly relates to sensitive information you may not want shared.

Your consent

By providing us with your personal information, including potential sensitive information if linked to our services, you consent to the collection and use of this information in accordance with the purposes described in this policy. Volunteer Centre Sutton may be funded to provide local services, such as Advocacy, Mentoring or Befriending which have specific contractual requirements on how data is collected and used. Information may be provided by professionals or referred to us. In these instances, you may not have formally given consent. The information disclosed will be strictly limited to what is required to provide services or to comply with its legal and regulatory requirements.

Padlocked gateHow we protect your personal data

We take appropriate measures to ensure that the personal information disclosed to us is kept secure, accurate, and up to date. We will ensure that your personal information is kept only for so long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and is securely destroyed.


Your information will be protected from unauthorised or accidental disclosure and these principles apply whether we hold your information on paper or in electronic form. However, we cannot guarantee the security of Data in an account from unauthorized entry or use, hardware or software failure, and other factors.

Desk with coffee cup, laptop and man's hands pointing to charts and graphsHow we use your personal data

Personal information which we hold may be used in several ways. For example:

  • to ensure efficient and accurate processing of your request;
  • to operate, maintain and improve our services;
  • to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into by you and us;
  • to process a volunteer or job application;
  • to maintain contact with you;
  • to send you communications which you have requested and that may be of interest to you;
  • to seek your views or comments on the services we provide;
  • to notify you of changes to our services;
  • to provide services to the wider community;
  • for protection of your rights;

Smartphone users transferring data wirelesslyThe reasons we might share your personal data

We will not disclose your personal information to any organisation or person outside Volunteer Centre Sutton without your consent, except for the following reasons:

  • to the extent that we are required to do so by law;
  • in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention);
  • to safeguard children and vulnerable adults;
  • to any person who we reasonably believe may apply to a court or other competent authority for disclosure of that personal information where, in our reasonable opinion, such court or authority would be reasonably likely to order disclosure of that personal information;
  • if we receive a complaint about any content you have posted or transmitted to or from one of our sites, to enforce or apply our Terms & Conditions or if we believe that we need to do so to protect and defend the rights, property or personal safety of Volunteer Centre Sutton, our websites or our visitors and for other lawful purposes;
  • if we merge with another organisation to form a new entity, information may be transferred to the new entity;

For clients of our Befriending, Mentoring, Advocacy and Community services

For people who have contacted us for support directly, or been referred to us by another person, family member or professional, such as a social or health worker, we will only use the information provided to facilitate our work with you and to record information required by the organisation that funds us for the work (such as a local authority or local health team), as well as for internal administrative purposes such as monitoring the quality of our service. We may however contact you to ask for your assessment of how we helped you and your satisfaction with the service provided, or other market research. We will not publish any information that could identify you personally without your consent.

We may work in partnership with other mentoring, advocacy or community project providers. We may ourselves be subcontracted by other advocacy or professional providers. We will not share your information with other parties other than for the purposes of providing the service, although we may be required to share information with other organisations that provide the service.

Child playing with legoProtecting children's personal data

Where appropriate, we will seek consent from a parent or guardian before collecting personal information about a child aged under 18. However, where we are supporting a young person directly, potentially through our advocacy or mentoring services, personal information may be sent to us or disclosed to us to enable us to complete a service. Any information will only be shared where appropriate for the delivery of the service.

Bases for processing a child’s personal data:

  • When relying on consent, we make sure that the child understands what they are consenting to
  • When relying on ‘necessary for the performance of a contract’, we consider the child’s competence to understand what they are agreeing to, and to enter into a contract
  • When relying upon ‘legitimate interests’, we take responsibility for identifying the risks and consequences of the processing and put age appropriate safeguards in place

Hourglass in sandHow long we keep your personal data

Personal information is retained only for as long as it is required for the purpose collected. We review our retention periods for personal information on a regular basis. We are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory obligations, or as long as is set out in any relevant contract you hold with us.

Deleting personal data

Client information is kept only for a designated period of time, as per our retention policy, unless we are required to keep data longer or shorter due to contractual or legal requirements. When we no longer need to keep your personal information, we will delete your contact details, any associated documents, and any other information that could identify you personally.

How to opt out of marketing and promotional emails

You can opt out of marketing or promotional emails at any time by adjusting your preferences in the “notification settings” tab in the Apps or through the “Settings” tab on our Sites if you are logged into your account. You may also unsubscribe from emails in the footer of any marketing or promotional email. Please note that you cannot opt out of service or legal notices.

Access rights and requests

You have the right to see what personal data we hold about you. Subject access requests must be submitted in writing. We will require specific proof of identity if making a subject access request. Please use our Subject Access Request Form to ensure you supply all the information we need to process your request. You can also use this form if you are requesting information on behalf of somebody else.

You may also request a right for your information to be removed by requesting your identifying information is deleted. This will include your specific contact information such as house number and phone numbers, and any correspondence. However, we may retain other information that cannot specifically be used to identify you and are required to do this for contractual and compliance reasons.
If your personal details change, please help us to keep your information up to date by notifying Volunteer Centre Sutton.

Woman with laptop smartphone and usb stickYour personal data on the web

Our website is built using the Content Management System, Voice. Read their Cookies statement.

VCConnect are the developers or our volunteering database. Read their privacy policy.

We use Google Analytics on our websites, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics sets a cookie in order to evaluate your use of this website and compile reports for us on activity on the website. Google stores the information collected by the cookie on servers in the United States. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above. Our cookies are not used to identify you personally. They collect anonymous information on the pages visited and we do not use advertising cookies. Most browsers will allow you to turn off cookies. Please note however that turning off cookies will restrict your use of our website. For further information visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org

Other websites

Our website may contain links to other sites. This privacy policy only applies to this website so when you link to other websites you should read their own respective privacy policies. 

How to contact us

For further information, questions or specific requests relating to this statement please contact our Data Support Officer:

  • By post: Volunteer Centre Sutton, 216-220 High Street, Sutton. SM1 1NU
  • By email: hello@vcsutton.org.uk

About this guidance 

We are committed to ensuring the accuracy of its contents by reviewing it on a regular basis. If we make significant changes in the way we use your Data, we will notify you by posting an announcement on our digital platforms or by sending you an email where possible. By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this Policy.

Key definitions

  • We and us refer to Volunteer Centre Sutton, which is the operational name of Sutton Borough Volunteer Bureau, a registered charity No. 1048978. It includes Mentoring, Advocacy Peer Support (MAPS), Sutton Befrienders, Young Commissioners and all community and future projects.
  • Our digital platforms refer to our website (http://vcsutton.org.uk) and all online accounts with third parties such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Eventbrite, Mailchimp, Typeform, Buffer, Hootsuite, etc.
  • GDPR refers to the General Data Protection Regulation (2018), updated rules on how The Data Protection Act (2018), that provides the legal framework that defines how personal information can be used and should be applied in practice. Find out more at https://www.gov.uk/data-protection
  • Personal data refers to any of a wide range of kinds of information with which a specific individual might be identified, for example their name, date of birth, home address, mobile number, email address, passport number or photographic media. It is sometimes also referred to as 'Personally Identifying Information', or PII.