Privacy

The Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum are committed to protecting your privacy. This privacy policy tells you how we process your information and why.

When we ask you for your consent, we will refer to this privacy policy. We will keep this page and this policy updated so you can see how we use your personal information, so you can be confident that when you share your information with us, we will only use it for the reasons described here.

Our Website

Links to Forestry England website and other sites: the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other websites linked to this site. If you have followed a link from our website to another website, you may be sharing information with a third party.

Cookies: The Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum website uses cookies, as almost every website does, to improve your experience when browsing our website. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer or mobile device (e.g. mobile phone or tablet) when you browse websites. The cookies on our website are there to:

- Make our website work as you would expect;

- Remember your preferred settings during and between visits;

- Improve the speed and security of our website

You can control what activity you share with us when using our website by adjusting your preferences in the cookie controller on our website.

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How we use your personal information

The personal information you share with us will be used in the ways and for the purposes outlined to you at the time you give us the information, and always in accordance with your preferences.

The personal information we collect and process may be used in the following ways:

- Administration of your membership scheme;

- Administration of donations, adoptions, sponsorship and legacies;

- Research and analysis about our members and supporters;

- Communication with you about our work, including membership, fundraising, support for Westonbirt the National Arboretum and other activities we believe may be of interest to you;

- Letting you know about any special offers available to our members, including those from Forestry England and our partners;

- Communicating with you about an event you have signed up to attend (e.g. the Westonbirt 10k, fundraising events);

- Ensuring that all communication you receive from the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum are relevant (e.g. customising our messaging to our existing donors and potential supporters).

Personal information collected and processed by us may be shared with the following groups where necessary:

- Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum staff (e.g. to manage the membership scheme, carryout maintenance and renewals, respond to queries);

- Forestry England hand-scanning technology (approved by FoWA) to enable your membership status to be verified for entry purposes using membership number, expiry date, issue number, title, name and age. The date and time of your visit is recorded using the same software and returned to FoWA (Forestry England / FoWA Data Processing Agreement);

- Forestry England's Visitor Services Team (and approved admissions contractors) to check your membership status using your title, name, age and address in the event you are unable to show your valid membership card for entry purposes (Forestry England / FoWA Data Processing Agreement);

- Contractors (e.g. to send you your members’ magazine);

We will NEVER sell or share your personal information to other organisations for them to use.

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Your communication preferences

You are always in control of how we communicate with you, and you can change your preferences at any time by emailing the Supporter Services Team at membership@fowa.org.uk

We will always act on your preferences for the type of communications you would like to receive and how you receive them (post, email, phone, text).

There are some communications that we HAVE to send you, whatever your communication preferences. These are essential for us to provide our membership service to you or fulfil other service promises when you buy goods or services from us. These communications include:

- Notification of transactions. E.g. Direct Debit or online payment confirmations;

- Communications related to your membership such as your renewal letter, sending your membership card(s) and our members’ magazine.

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Retention

We will only keep your personal information for as long as we need to, depending on the purpose we are using it for (as explained to you at the time of collection) up until seven years after your last donation or direct contact with us.

In some cases the length of time we keep your information is governed by law and/or regulations (e.g. Gift Aid declarations and financial/payment information). Even where we are required to keep information for extended periods of time, your information is always stored securely and access is limited strictly to those who need it.

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Consent

The rules around consent changed in May 2018. Where we need your consent, we make sure that we explain what we will use your information for, who we may share it with and how long we will keep it for.

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Accessing your information

You are entitled to ask us, in writing, for a copy of all the information we hold about you. We may charge a small administration fee of £10 to respond to your request. If you would like to access your information, please contact us by writing to the Supporter Engagement Manager at the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum, The Great Oak Hall, Westonbirt The National Arboretum, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8QS.

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Updating or changing your personal information

If you wish to amend or change the information we hold about you at any time, please contact the Membership Team by emaining the Supporter Services Team at membership@fowa.org.uk

Alternatively, by writing to the Supporter Services Team at the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum, The Great Oak Hall, Westonbirt The National Arboretum, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8QS.

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Security

We understand that many people are wary of sharing their personal information online. We strive to protect your personal information and keep your data secure and use the following methods:

- Encrypting your data when it moves to/from our web services and when it is held by us;

- Ensuring that membership sign up/renewal pages and donation transaction pages on our website are secure using an encrypted https format, so you can be confident that all transactions are secure and that your information is being shared safely. You can check whether or not a web page you are visiting is secure by looking for the padlock symbol in the address bar;

- We do not store any sensitive card payment information on our systems;

- Complying fully with all payment card information regulations and standards (PCI-DSS). This is an international standard for safe payment process;

- Using a “payment gateway” for online payments made via our website. This is a service provided by a bank, and means that you are not giving the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum your payment details, but are communicating directly with the bank, who then pass the payment onto us.

Updated: May 2023