Your privacy is important and Friends of Oakwell Hall and Country Park will take every care to protect the information you provide to us.

Privacy Notice

The Friends Of Oakwell Hall and Country Park (“we”, “our”, “us”) are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This privacy notice explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal data when you visit our website, sign up for our newsletter, or become a member of the Friends.

We work with Kirklees Council, but we are a separate and distinct group. Roger Knights is the nominated Data Controller and Data Protection Officer. He can be contacted via our contact page or Social Media channels.

1. The Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process personal data when you interact with our website or services:

  • Contact Information: Your name and email address when you sign up for our newsletter.
  • Contact Form Data: Your name, email address, and any message you type when you use our website contact form.
  • Membership: Your name, postal address, email, and phone number, along with any other information you choose to provide when you submit the membership form
  • Photography and Video: We sometimes take photographs and short video recordings at events organised at Oakwell Hall.
  • Technical Data: IP addresses and cookies when you browse our website.

2. Third-Party Services We Use (Sharing Your Data)

We rely on trusted third-party providers to manage our group. These platforms act as “Data Processors.” Your data is handled according to their respective privacy policies:

  • We use a Gmail account to send newsletters to those who prefer to receive them online. This does not store your details.
  • Our contact form is powered by Jotform, and they process your submissions via their servers.
  • We use SumUp to collect card payments, and relevant financial transactions are processed via their servers.

3. Lawful Basis (How and Why We Use Your Data)

You are not obliged to provide us with personal information, but if you do not, we will not be able to communicate with you or provide any services such as newsletters.

We only use your information for specific reasons, relying on the following lawful bases under UK GDPR.

Consent:

(a) You explicitly agree to receive our newsletter or allow us to contact you when you complete a form on our website, or give us your contact details at an event. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time by using our contact form.

Legitimate Interest (GDPR Article 6(1)(f)):

(a) If you contact us through social media, it is in our legitimate interest to use your contact details to reply, so that we can provide efficient service, manage public relations and handle incoming queries about our activities.

(b) Still and video photography at our events is in our legitimate interests as a heritage organisation so we can use images on our website, social media, newsletters, local press, publicity material, funding applications, and to record the history of the group. If you would prefer not to appear in photographs or videos, please let one of our volunteers know before or during the event. We will make every reasonable effort to respect your wishes and, where practical, avoid photographing you or use images in which you are not identifiable.

4. Data Retention (How long we keep it)

  • Newsletter: we keep your email address for as long as you wish to receive updates.
  • Memberships: we keep your details for 12 months after the due date, if you fail to renew a membership.
  • Financial records: these are held for 7 years in accordance with tax office requirements.

5. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights. You can read more about your rights on the ICO Website.

  • To know what data we collect, how we use it and how long we keep it,
  • To look at the data we hold about you,
  • To ask us to correct mistakes,
  • To ask that we delete your information,
  • To ask us to limit some of the ways we use your data,
  • To ask us to share your data with another organisation,
  • To object to us using your data is some ways, e.g. for direct marketing,
  • Not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing.

To make a request, or if you have any questions about this privacy notice, please contact us.

Data Protection Complaints

If you have any concerns about the way we use your data, you may make a complaint.

Data Protection Complaints Policy

Group Name: Friends of Oakwell Hall & Country Park

This policy explains how you can submit a complaint to us if you believe we have mishandled your personal data or breached UK data protection laws (including the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act).

1. How to Make a Complaint

We want to make it as simple as possible for you to voice your concerns. You do not need to use formal legal language to file a complaint. You can reach out to us directly through either of the following channels:

2. Our Mandatory Response Timeline

Once we receive your data protection complaint, we will follow a strict, legally mandated response framework:

  • Acknowledgement (Within 30 Days): We will formally acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 30 days of receiving it.
  • Investigation: We will launch an internal enquiry into the matter without undue delay to understand what occurred and how to rectify it.
  • Progress Updates: If the investigation takes time (for example, due to technical complexity), we will provide you with regular, timely updates on our progress.
  • Final Outcome: We will write to you to explain the final outcome of our investigation, including any corrective actions taken, without undue delay.

3. Your Right to Escalate to the ICO

We are committed to working with you to resolve any data privacy complaints amicably. However, if you remain dissatisfied with our final decision, or if we fail to respond to you within the legal timeframes, you have the statutory right to escalate your complaint directly to the UK supervisory authority:

  • Authority: Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
  • Website: ico.org.uk
  • Helpline: 0303 123 1113

Updated June 2026 because of new GDPR rules

Cookies and privacy

Cookies are small text files that help organise and store browsing information. They are not programmes, and cannot damage your computer or any files you have on it. Nor can they transmit viruses. Find out more here.

This website uses the CookieAdmin to collect and record Browser and Device-based Consent. CookieAdmin stores a visitor’s country and IP address. The IP address is anonymised to comply with privacy laws. 

Our site is designed using a content management system called WordPress. WordPress sets some cookies on your machine to make our site work properly, especially the interactive parts like search and menus.

We also sometimes embed links to content from other websites. These are clearly identified, but if you follow the links, you may be presented with cookies from these sites. We cannot control these third-party activities. You should check with the websites concerned for more information. To refuse third-party site cookies you will need to check with the originating sites.

Alternatively, you can opt out by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page at http://www.aboutcookies.org. This site will also advise you about using your browser to automatically control which cookies you accept. Your settings can be applied to any site you visit, so you don’t have to deal with them on a site-by-site basis.

The Friends of Oakwell Hall