Privacy, referrals & safeguarding

Who is responsible for your information?

Archie George Foundation is responsible for the personal information it uses for its enquiries and referrals. Its trustees oversee these arrangements. Only authorised volunteers and trustees of Archie George Foundation may access the referrals email address and inbox, and access should be limited to what their role requires.

For privacy questions or requests about your information, email referrals@archie-georgefoundation.co.uk. You can put “Privacy” in the subject. The Foundation is being developed and is not currently a registered charity.

What we collect for a referral

We accept self-referrals and professional referrals for help completing forms and finding suitable funding or services. Depending on the support requested, we may need your name, safe contact details, relationship to the service user, age, relevant support needs, optional sex and ethnicity where relevant, application information and records of agreed actions or follow-up.

Information may come from you, a parent or carer, or a professional referring with the appropriate permission. Professionals should tell the person or family about the referral and share only relevant information they are entitled to disclose.

Why we use it

We use relevant information to reply to you, understand the help requested, research suitable funding and services, assist with agreed application tasks, and keep a record of support provided. We do not publish referral details in the directory. Using someone’s story or photograph in publicity would require separate permission.

UK GDPR and sensitive information

UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 govern how personal information is used. For ordinary enquiries and referral administration, our legitimate interests are responding to requests for help, arranging agreed support and maintaining necessary case records. This is the legitimate-interests basis under Article 6(1)(f); it must be balanced against the person’s rights, with particular care for children’s information.

Health, disability and ethnicity information may be special category data. Where it is needed for voluntary casework, we will ask for explicit consent before using it, under Articles 6(1)(a) and 9(2)(a). Simply sending an email or attachment is not blanket explicit consent. We will explain the information involved and its purpose, and record the consent given.

Where consent is relied on, you can withdraw it by contacting us. This may limit the support we can provide, but does not make earlier lawful processing unlawful. A different lawful basis and special-category condition may apply to necessary safeguarding or a legal requirement; that decision and its reasons must be recorded.

You are not required to provide information just to use the directory. If you choose not to provide information necessary for individual support, we may be unable to carry out that part of a referral.

How long referral records are kept

• Referrals we cannot help with or reject: kept for six months after closure.
• Open, ongoing referrals: kept while the referral remains active.
• Completed referrals: kept for two years after completion, then securely deleted or disposed of.

Open cases should be reviewed so that information is not kept unnecessarily. If a safeguarding matter, complaint or legal requirement makes longer retention necessary, the reason and relevant period must be recorded, with only the information needed retained. These periods apply to referral records; any future donation or volunteer records will need their own retention arrangements.

Access, security and sharing

Volunteers and trustees handling referrals must respect confidentiality and receive training appropriate to their role. Referral information should be handled through authorised systems and kept out of public pages, unrelated personal accounts and public translation tools. No system can guarantee absolute security.

We may share relevant information with a grant provider, support organisation or professional when this is part of the support agreed with you. We will explain the recipient and what needs to be shared. Providers receiving information may have their own privacy notices. We do not sell referral information or use it for unrelated publicity.

Email and website providers process information to deliver their services. Any additional case-record system, provider access or international transfer must be assessed and covered by appropriate safeguards before use. We will update this notice when the service’s systems or data-sharing arrangements change, and explain relevant arrangements before collecting additional information.

Safeguarding and limits to confidentiality

We have a responsibility to act on safeguarding concerns. If we believe a child or an adult at risk may be experiencing abuse, neglect or serious harm, we will report the concern to the appropriate authority, such as children’s services, adult safeguarding services or the police.

Information may need to be shared without consent where there is a lawful safeguarding reason or legal requirement. We will share information that is relevant, necessary and proportionate, record the reason, and tell the people concerned where safe and appropriate. We cannot promise absolute secrecy when someone may be at risk.

The referral inbox is not an emergency service. Call 999 if someone is in immediate danger; use Urgent help for local safeguarding and crisis routes.

ICO guidance on safeguarding information sharing · Government safeguarding guidance

Your rights and raising a concern

Depending on the circumstances and lawful basis, you may have rights to ask for access to your information, correct inaccurate details, request deletion, restrict its use, object or withdraw consent. Some rights have legal limits. There are no automated decisions about grant eligibility on this website; the organisations offering funding make their own decisions.

Email referrals@archie-georgefoundation.co.uk to exercise a right or raise a privacy concern. We may need proportionate information to confirm your identity. Rights requests normally require a response within one calendar month, subject to the applicable rules and any permitted extension.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Read the ICO’s information about your data rights.

Your shortlist and display settings

Search filters run in your browser. Your shortlist contains only saved listing reference IDs and stays on this device. Display preferences such as text size, background and contrast are also stored in this browser. Clearing the website’s browser data removes these settings and the shortlist; Reset display settings resets the display choices.

Read aloud, translation and external links

Read aloud uses your browser or device’s speech service; your device settings determine how speech is processed. Translate opens Google Translate with the public page address. Google’s own privacy policy applies. The website does not send referral emails or medical documents through the Translate button. Do not paste private referral information into public translation services.

Charity, council and other external websites have their own privacy policies. An email link opens your email application; it does not automatically send a message. Downloaded directory files contain public listings, not family referral information.

Website hosting

The website has no added advertising or analytics trackers. Its hosting platform may process ordinary access and security logs. There is no online grant-application form collecting family evidence on this website. The contact email is a separate service.