Policies
Data Protection and Privacy Policy
Privacy is so important to us here at New Springs City Church. We want to ensure that all parties, visitors and staff, are kept safe in all respects including the handling of any personal data that we hold.
If you would like more information about how your information is shared or stored, please speak to one of the leadership team. There are a limited amount of people that have access to any data that is collected, this will be shared next. We also ask for your permission to be allowed to store data and act you to specify how you would like to be contacted - we endeavour to honour these requests.
How we use your data
New Springs UK and PACE Charity although separate charities are intertwined as they share a governance board, a building and activities. We do not share your data with anyone outside of the New Springs and PACE team and, in house, only share information with you that you have indicated an interest in. This might mean that your child has attended PACE camp for example and therefore you, as their parent, would be included in information for Messy Church activities that also might be of interest.
When someone comes to New Springs, they sign up through one of the cards in the welcome pack, this contains a box for a person to tick to make sure they are happy with us storing their information. This card is kept in a locked office to see if the person comes regularly (approximately 3-4 more times). Once we feel a person wants to make New Springs their home we their data to Churchsuite which is our way of holding peoples personal information. Churchsuite can be accessed by a number of different members of the leadership and voluntary body but it has blocks which mean that certain blocks of information can only be accessed by certain people.
For the PACE Charity, those that are on our system have already accessed a service such as Baby Group, Big Bounce, PACE Camp, Community Store or Youth for example. The information was taken with permission to store it so that the group or service you are accessing or interested in can stay in touch with you. For example, should a message need to be sent to all those who have accessed the community store, the information taken will provide the ability to connect with the users of the service. Information is used to share only what has been deemed either important or of interest but this can be amended any time per your request. Information is also stored for purposes of reporting back to the board or funders as to the success of a particular project - in this instance there are no names used. Only anonymised numerical data is collected.
The ways we use personal data are:
For running our events, projects and gatherings.
For contacting you about important news and upcoming events (except where you’ve told us not to). Our New Springs general bi-weekly bulletin can be signed up to through our website this contains minimal information besides the contact details for
For managing giving and Gift Aid (where you’ve chosen to claim it). This information is seen on the Gift Aid envelopes that you fill out and put in and put in the offering basket.
For photos and publicity of our events - we inform you of the media team’s contact information through our bi-weekly bulletin and ask you to talk to them should you not want photos shared.
For your pastoral care as a member of our church family or volunteer base. Included in this is the necessity to pass on information to the emergency services. We collect volunteers information including health issues and relevant medical details (such as medication being taken). This ensures that if an ambulance were to be called we have details to pass to them. It also means that we can limit tasks in response to information that is shared.
Safeguarding - sometimes information is stored confidentially for the purposes of safeguarding. There are a very small number of key staff who know where this information is securely stored. This information is kept should there be an allegation or should we be concerned as to the general behaviour of a person or outcome of a situation. We store names where relevant and contact numbers and addresses should they be pertinent to the case in hand.
How long we keep your data for
If you decide to leave the church we store your information in an archive file (accessible by a select few key members of staff) so that if you change your mind the information can be added back in. If you want it deleted sooner, then do get in touch. If you have visited for a one off outreach event such as Big Bounce or the Carol service we will only store your inflation on our system if you have given us permission. We will only then contact you if there is something happening either at church or PACE that we feel will interest you. These permissions can be withdrawn at any time however and are in your control i.e. you can unsubscribe from the email bulletin or contact the team directly and we will remove your details.
Your rights regarding data
The information we use is for legitimate reasons - particularly if you have shown an interest in a group or service. We of course take extra caution when storing information for those under 18 which we do for our youth and children’s provision. We keep medial information, especially allergy information, and anything that might require special attention or consideration such as bereavement or additional need.
You can at any time ask to see the information stored on you or your child. It is only kept for their safety or to inform them of specifics to the activities or groups that they might attend, but should you as their parent/guardian wish it to be removed from our databases we will of course comply with your wishes. This may have an impact though on our ability to include your child in a group or service we run, e.g. if you ask us to remove all information we may lose vital allergy information which means that your child will be at risk. We also may have on file that your child is fostered or adopted or has an additional need. This needs to be shared with the relevant internal team only so that that is factored in while your young person is with us.
Please don’t forget that you can adapt the use of your information and ask to see any information held on you or your child where relevant. You can ask for consent to be withdrawn at any time. If you were contacted by a particular member of staff, you can ask them directly. Alternatively, you can contact: [email protected].