Privacy Policy

How We Handle Your Information

During your contact with Families Out Loud, we will explain how your personal information will be used, how it is securely stored, and when it may need to be shared with other organisations or services.

We will only share your information with third parties if one or more of the following apply:

You have given your consent (for example, by providing information after we have informed you it will be shared).

There is a safeguarding concern involving a child, a vulnerable adult, yourself, or the public.

It is necessary for crime prevention or detection, or for the assessment of any tax or duty.

We are legally required to do so by a court or regulatory authority.

It is necessary to protect rights, property, or safety — for example, for fraud prevention.

We transfer our responsibilities for providing services to another organisation.

How We Collect and Use Information

We receive enquiries by phone, email, and through our website. Our email system, phone line and website are managed and monitored internally by the data controllers. Once we receive your enquiry, it is passed to the appropriate member of our team.

Client enquiries:

Client enquiries are sent to our counselling support team. They will make Initial contact to obtain your personal details and you will be assigned a client number which is used for administrative purposes such as recording attendance, contributions and other day-to-day functions. You will then be assigned a counsellor who will conduct all further communication with you.

The counsellor may keep brief notes about your situation and, if you attend one-to-one sessions, will record short notes for each session.

Paper records are stored securely; digital notes are password-protected and protected by appropriate security software.

If you join a support group, facilitators may also keep brief notes stored in the same secure manner.

Only clinical staff providing services for Families Out Loud have access to your personal information.

Retention of Records

Personal information from enquiries or assessments that do not lead to services being provided is deleted after two years.

Clinical records are kept for eight years.

All records are securely destroyed using a confidential shredding service.

Please note: We need certain personal information in order to deliver our services. If you choose not to provide this information, it may affect the support we can offer.

Mailing Lists

If you join our mailing list, you will be asked to provide your email address.

Your information will be stored securely and only accessible to clinical staff and Data Controllers at Families Out Loud.

Data is stored digitally, password-protected, and secured with appropriate software.

You can unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time.

Client Contributions & Donations

Your information will be securely stored and only accessible by FOL data controllers.

Contributions and donations can be made through Give a Little, JustGiving or direct into the charity’s bank account.

Your Rights Under GDPR

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the right to:

Be informed about what data we hold, how we use it, and who we share it with.

Access your personal data.

Have incorrect or incomplete data corrected.

Request restriction or objection to our use of your data if you believe it is inaccurate or used unfairly.

We are committed to maintaining high standards when collecting and using personal data. If you believe that our use of your information is unfair, misleading, or inappropriate, please let us know. We also welcome suggestions for improving our processes.

Accessing Your Information

You can find out whether we hold any personal information about you by making a Subject Access Request under GDPR. If we do hold information about you, we will:

Provide a description of the data.

Explain why we hold it.

Tell you who it may be shared with.

Provide a copy in an understandable format.

Where possible, we will handle requests informally — for example, by providing the information you need by phone. You can also ask us to correct any mistakes in your data by contacting our Data Controller(s).

Right to Erasure (“Right to Be Forgotten”)

In some circumstances, you have the right to ask us to delete the personal data we hold about you. This applies when:

We no longer need your data.

You originally gave consent and have now withdrawn it.

You have objected to our use of your data, and your interests outweigh ours.

Your data was collected unlawfully.

We are legally required to erase your data.

If you wish to exercise your right to erasure, please contact our Data Controllers via email: enquiries@familiesoutloud.org.

For any questions, requests, or complaints regarding this Privacy Policy or our data handling practices, please contact:

The Chair of the Board of Trustees
📧 enquiries@familiesoutloud.org

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Under the General Data Protection Regulation you have the following rights:

● To be told about what data we have, how and what we use it for, and who we share it with.
● To be given access to your personal data.
● To have any errors corrected or incomplete data completed.
● To stop us using your data if you think our use is unjustified or the data are inaccurate.

We try to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information, and we take any complaints about this very seriously. We encourage you to let us know if you think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate. We also welcome any suggestions for improving our procedures.