Privacy Policy

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Horn Trust (“we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy and personal information of everyone who engages with our services, visits our website, volunteers with us, donates to us, or works in partnership with us. We take our responsibilities under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 seriously.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal data.

By using our website or interacting with Horn Trust, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

1. Who We Are

Horn Trust is a charitable organisation supporting young people, vulnerable adults, and families across Birmingham. We provide community services including mentoring, homelessness support, mental health and wellbeing programmes, learning disability support, and family assistance.

Data Controller: Horn Trust
Address: Room 5, Moseley Road, Birmingham, B12 9AH
Email: info@horntrust.org
Phone: 0121 2859428

As a data controller, we determine how and why your personal data is processed.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

Horn Trust collects different types of personal information depending on your interaction with us. We only collect what is necessary for our work.

a) Information you provide directly

This may include:

  • Your name, address, email, and phone number
  • Date of birth or age
  • Emergency contact details
  • Information you provide through referral forms
  • Details about your circumstances, support needs, or wellbeing
  • Records of communication between you and our team
  • Information submitted through contact forms on our website
  • Donation history or fundraising activity
  • Volunteering or job application details (including CVs)

b) Special category data

Some of our community services require us to collect sensitive information, such as:

  • Health or mental health information
  • Disability or learning needs
  • Ethnicity or nationality
  • Religious or cultural background (only where relevant to service provision)

We collect this information only when necessary and with your consent, unless there is a lawful reason not to (for example, safeguarding concerns).

c) Website usage data

When you visit our website, we may collect:

  • IP address
  • Browser type
  • Device information
  • Pages visited and time spent on our site
  • Cookie preferences

This helps us improve our website and user experience.

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

Horn Trust uses your information only for legitimate purposes. These may include:

  • Providing you with services, support, or advice
  • Assessing your needs and tailoring support packages
  • Managing referrals from professionals and partner agencies
  • Communicating with you about appointments, programmes, or changes
  • Recording case notes to ensure safe and effective delivery
  • Processing donations, fundraising activities, or Gift Aid claims
  • Responding to enquiries made via the website or contact form
  • Ensuring the safety and welfare of children and vulnerable adults
  • Managing volunteers and staff recruitment
  • Keeping records for legal or regulatory compliance
  • Improving our services and website functionality

We will only use your personal data for the purpose it was collected unless we have a lawful basis to do otherwise.

4. Lawful Bases for Processing

We rely on several lawful bases under UK GDPR, including:

  • Consent – when you give us permission to process your information
  • Contract – when processing is necessary for a service you request
  • Legal obligation – for safeguarding, financial, or regulatory requirements
  • Vital interests – to protect someone’s life or wellbeing
  • Public task – where we work with public bodies on statutory duties
  • Legitimate interests – for running our organisation efficiently and responsibly

Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

5. Sharing Your Personal Data

Horn Trust will never sell your personal information.
We may share data with trusted third parties only when necessary, such as:

  • Birmingham City Council services
  • Birmingham Children’s Trust
  • NHS health professionals
  • Social workers or support agencies
  • Housing providers
  • Police or emergency services
  • Funders requiring anonymised monitoring data
  • IT providers hosting our secure systems
  • HMRC (for Gift Aid or legal obligations)

We share information strictly on a need-to-know basis and only when lawful.

6. Safeguarding and Information Sharing

If we believe a child, young person, or vulnerable adult is at risk of harm, we may share relevant information with safeguarding authorities even without your consent.
This is required under UK safeguarding legislation.

We will only share what is necessary to protect an individual.

7. How We Store and Protect Your Data

We take robust measures to keep your personal data safe. These include:

  • Secure, password-protected systems
  • Restricted staff access
  • Encrypted digital storage
  • Locked storage for physical documents
  • Regular training for staff and volunteers
  • Compliance with data retention rules and GDPR guidance

We keep your information only for as long as necessary. When it is no longer needed, we safely delete or destroy it.

8. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have several rights regarding your personal data, including:

  • Right to access – you may request a copy of your data
  • Right to rectification – you can ask us to correct inaccurate information
  • Right to erasure – you may request deletion in some circumstances
  • Right to restrict processing – you can limit how we use your data
  • Right to object – for example, to marketing communications
  • Right to data portability – to transfer your data to another provider
  • Right to withdraw consent at any time

Requests will be responded to within one month, in accordance with legal requirements.

To exercise your rights, please contact:
Email: info@horntrust.org
Phone: 0121 2859428

9. Cookies and Website Tracking

Our website uses cookies to improve your experience. Cookies help us understand which pages are visited, how long users spend on the site, and how we can make improvements.
You can manage cookie preferences through your browser settings or via our cookie banner when you first visit the website.

For more details, please see our Cookie Policy.

10. Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to external sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other organisations. We recommend reading their privacy policies before sharing any personal information.

11. Children and Young People’s Data

We are committed to protecting the privacy of children and young people.
Where we collect information from anyone under the age of 18, we will ensure that:

  • it is handled sensitively and securely;
  • consent is obtained from a parent or guardian where appropriate;
  • information is shared only when necessary to keep a child safe or deliver support.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in the law, improvements to our services, or updates to our practices. The most recent version will always be available on our website, and significant changes will be communicated where appropriate.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about how we use your data, please contact:

Horn Trust
Email: info@horntrust.org
Phone: 0121 2859428

You also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your data has been mishandled.

Website: www.ico.org.uk
Phone: 0303 123 1113