Privacy / Data Protection Policy

Letchworth Garden City Church Privacy & Data Protection Policy

INTRODUCTION

Letchworth Garden City Church ("the Church") is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly, securely and transparently.

This Privacy & Data Protection Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect personal information when you engage with the Church, attend our activities, visit our website, use ChurchSuite or MyChurchSuite, or otherwise interact with us.

We are committed to complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

By providing your personal information, you acknowledge that it will be processed in accordance with this policy and the lawful bases set out below.

HOW WE COLLECT INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

We collect personal information whenever you interact with the Church. This may include when you:

  • visit our website;

  • complete online forms;

  • register yourself or members of your family using ChurchSuite or MyChurchSuite;

  • check yourself or your children into Church activities;

  • make a donation, including Gift Aid declarations;

  • register for services, conferences or other Church events;

  • provide your contact details verbally or in writing;

  • purchase goods or services;

  • attend Church services or activities;

  • communicate with us by email, telephone, post or in person;

  • engage with us through social media platforms;

  • volunteer or become involved in Church ministries/teams.

We also receive information where parents or legal guardians provide details about their children.

The Church does not store debit or credit card details. Online payments are processed securely by our payment service providers using encrypted payment systems.

HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We use personal information only where we have a lawful basis to do so. These lawful bases include:

  • your consent;

  • our legitimate interests as a church and charity;

  • compliance with legal obligations;

  • where necessary to fulfil a contract or provide a service you have requested.

We may use your information to:

  • communicate with you about Church services, ministries, events and activities;

  • administer membership, attendance and pastoral care;

  • organise conferences and events;

  • process donations and Gift Aid;

  • respond to enquiries or complaints;

  • provide products or services you have requested;

  • manage volunteers and ministry teams;

  • improve our ministries, website and services;

  • communicate important information from Church leadership;

  • fulfil our safeguarding responsibilities;

  • comply with legal and regulatory requirements.

Where we rely on consent (for example, certain marketing communications), you may withdraw that consent at any time.

CHILDREN'S INFORMATION

We take particular care when processing children's personal information.

Parents or legal guardians normally provide personal information relating to children.

We retain information about children who attend our activities in order to administer our children's ministry, maintain attendance records, communicate with parents or guardians where appropriate, fulfil our safeguarding responsibilities, and support the pastoral life of the church.

Where children visit for the first time, we may create a visitor record containing information supplied by a parent or guardian so that we can safely administer our children's activities, operate our check-in procedures, maintain appropriate attendance records and fulfil our safeguarding responsibilities.

Where visiting children continue to attend Church activities, we may retain and update these records where this is necessary for our legitimate interests, safeguarding responsibilities and the effective administration of our children's ministry.

Parents and guardians may request access to, correction of or deletion of their child's personal information, subject to our legal and safeguarding obligations.

SPECIAL CATEGORY (SENSITIVE) INFORMATION

Because we are a church, we may process special category personal information where appropriate.

This may include:

  • information about religious belief or church attendance;

  • health information (such as allergies, medical conditions or accessibility requirements);

  • safeguarding information;

  • dietary requirements;

  • emergency contact information.

Such information is processed only where permitted by UK GDPR and is treated with appropriate confidentiality and security.

WHO SEES YOUR INFORMATION

Your information is held securely and is accessible only to authorised staff and approved volunteers who require it to carry out their responsibilities.

We use trusted third-party service providers to help us operate effectively. These may include providers of:

  • Church management software (such as ChurchSuite);

  • email communications;

  • online giving;

  • payment processing;

  • cloud storage;

  • website hosting.

Where personal information is shared with service providers, appropriate contracts and data protection safeguards are in place.

We never sell your personal information.

We will only disclose personal information where:

  • you have asked us to do so;

  • we have a legal obligation;

  • it is necessary to protect someone from harm;

  • it is required for safeguarding or law enforcement purposes;

  • it is otherwise permitted by law.

KEEPING YOUR INFORMATION UP TO DATE

Please let us know whenever your contact details change.

If you use MyChurchSuite, you can update much of your information yourself.

You may also update your communication preferences at any time through MyChurchSuite, the "Manage Preferences" link in our emails, or by contacting the Church Office.

You may unsubscribe from non-essential communications at any time.

YOUR RIGHTS

Under UK GDPR you have the right, where applicable, to:

  • request access to your personal information;

  • request correction of inaccurate information;

  • request deletion of your information;

  • request restriction of processing;

  • object to certain processing;

  • request transfer of your information where applicable;

  • withdraw consent where processing relies on consent.

Some of these rights are subject to legal exemptions, particularly where information must be retained for safeguarding, charity, financial or legal reasons.

DATA RETENTION

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, comply with legal obligations, fulfil safeguarding responsibilities and support the ongoing pastoral ministry of the Church.

Retention periods are determined according to the type of information involved and are set out in the Church's internal data retention procedures.

When information is no longer required, it is securely deleted or destroyed.

SECURITY

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

Information is stored securely using reputable service providers and secure systems.

Although we work hard to protect your information, no method of transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

COOKIES

Our website uses cookies to improve your browsing experience and help us understand how our website is used.

Cookies do not normally identify you personally.

You may control or disable cookies through your browser settings, although doing so may affect some website functionality.

Further information is available in our separate Cookie Policy.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Our website may contain links to external websites or embedded services such as YouTube, Vimeo, ChurchSuite or other trusted providers.

These third-party websites operate their own privacy policies, and we encourage you to read them before providing personal information.

The Church is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites.

SOCIAL MEDIA

We use social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp and other services to communicate with our community.

Please remember that information you publish on social media may become publicly available.

The Church will never ask you to disclose passwords or sensitive personal information through social media.

DOWNLOADS

Documents and resources made available from our website are downloaded at the user's own risk.

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We may update this Privacy & Data Protection Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legislation or the way we process personal information.

The latest version will always be available on our website.

COMPLAINTS

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact the Church's Operations Manager.

If you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent authority for data protection.

CONTACT DETAILS

Operations Manager
Letchworth Garden City Church
The Icknield Centre
Icknield Way
Letchworth Garden City
SG6 1EF

Email: info@mylgcc.co.uk

Telephone: +44 (0)1462 480126

ORGANISATION DETAILS

Letchworth Garden City Church is part of Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance, Registered Charity No. 251549 (England & Wales) and SC037754 (Scotland).

Registered Office:

Elim International Office
De Walden Road
Malvern
WR14 4DF

Version: July 2026