Privacy Policy

Taking care of your information

At 3VA we take your privacy very seriously. We ask that you read this privacy policy carefully as it contains important information about what to expect when we collect personal information about you and how we will use your personal data. This privacy policy sets out how we collect, use and store your personal information.

Please read this policy carefully; by providing us with your personal information, you consent to the collection and use of the information you provide in accordance with this policy. Occasionally, we may make changes to this policy so do remember to check back from time to time.

If you have any questions on this policy, please call our team on 01323 639 373 between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm, Monday to Thursday or email us at info@3va.org.uk.

Who we are

3VA is a Voluntary Action that works to support and develop the local voluntary groups and organisations in Eastbourne, Lewes District and Wealden that do so much to strengthen and build resilience in our communities. Our work is based on collaborative and partnership working using an asset-based and community-led approach, and we aim to strengthen social action by amplifying the voice of the voluntary sector. Our activities aim to make a real difference to our communities, and we are constantly reviewing our work to improve performance and make effective use of our resources.

3VA is registered with the Charity Commission (number 1096788) and is a Limited Company by guarantee (number 4637252). Our registered office is: 8 Saffrons Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21 1DG.

How we collect information

Information is critical to ensuring we can provide safe and effective services. It helps us operate as efficiently as possible and to make sure our interactions with you are timely, relevant and appropriate to you. To do this, we may collect information about you in the following ways:

  • When you interact with us such as when you register to become a member, use our services, make a donation or attend a training session or event.
  • When you interact with third parties such as when you make a donation through a third party website (e.g. PayPal) and give your permission for your information to be shared with us. Similarly, if you engage with us on social media, messaging or remote meeting services like Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp or Zoom you might give us permission to access information from those accounts. The data we are given access to by social media services will vary but will always be in line with the Terms of that particular service.
  • When you visit our website we may gather information, such as which pages you visit or how long you spend reading a particular page. This data helps us to improve your online experience, for example by adding new features, or removing elements that make the website difficult to use. Like most websites we use cookies to help us do this. We may also use data and insights to help inform the choice of words and images that appear on the site, in order to improve visitors’ experience.
  • You can find out more in our how we use cookies section below. Depending on the type of device you’re using, your apps and settings may supply us with additional information about the device type, your operating system, and details associated with this.
  • From other information that is available to the public to help us understand more about you e.g. the Charity Commission register to ensure our communications are appropriate. By understanding more about you means we can help make our services more effective and accessible as possible.

What information we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, the information that we collect may include your name, postal address, email address, telephone or mobile number and whether you have any additional support needs and/or special dietary requirements. In addition we may also collect and process the following information about you:

  • Information that you provide by filling in forms (including on this website; our site). This includes information provided at the time of registering to use our services, subscribing to our services, posting material or requesting further services. We may also ask you for information when you report a problem with our services.
  • If you contact us, we may keep a record of that correspondence.
  • We may also ask you to complete surveys that we use for research purposes, although you do not have to respond to them.
  • Details of transactions you carry out and of the fulfilment of your orders.
  • Details of your visits to our site including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data, whether this is required for our own billing purposes or otherwise and the resources that you access.
  • We may sometimes use third party suppliers to support our work – to understand more about this please see the section below, “Who we share your information with”.

How we use your information

We will ask for your consent before we use your information for certain purposes, such as sending you emails about training opportunities or sector news. We may also use your information where we have a legitimate interest in order to carry out our activities, examples include:

  • To provide you with the services, products or information you have requested, or that we feel would be of interest to you, and reasonably expected by you.
  • To process your donations or other payments and verify financial transactions.
  • To process orders, deliver services and communicate with you about orders such as training courses.
  • To provide updates on our work, as well as tell you about other ways you might be able to support us, where you have agreed to receive this information.
  • For administrative purposes, for example to contact you with a query about membership.
  • To keep a record of your relationship with us.
  • To ask you to participate in surveys or research.
  • To carry out due diligence on potential or actual members in accordance with our internal policies.
  • To analyse and improve our website, services, products or information.
  • To understand our supporters better and develop audience propositions.

So we can let you know the latest news about our work and share with you how else you can help, we may contact you by direct mail, and by telephone, email or SMS, where you have agreed to be contacted. You can change how you hear from us at any time simply by getting in touch with our Team – please see the section “How to change the way we contact you” below.

When you enter information into a form on our website and start but don’t complete a form, make a donation or complete an order we may send you an email to check and see if there is any help we can give or any problems you encountered.

If you would prefer us not to process or analyse your information, you can let us know by contacting our Team.

Who we share your information with

We may share your information with partners, agents or service providers to allow them to perform services on our behalf or to help us improve the services we provide to you. These partners will only act under our instruction and will not use your information for their own purposes.

We always have contracts in place with our suppliers, which require them to comply with UK data protection law and have systems and processes to protect the security of your information. We promise to always keep your details safe and we’ll never sell your information to other organisations.

We may disclose personal information if required to do so by law or if we believe that such action is necessary to protect your vital interests. We may disclose personal information to defend the rights, property or personal safety of 3VA, our visitors and for other lawful purposes.

Some examples of the organisations with which we may share your data:

Our technology & media partners

  • Pipe Media

Our social media partners

  • Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

To process orders, donations and claim gift aid:

  • BACS, HMRC, PayPal

Our analysis partners

  • Google inc.

Our statutory partners

  • East Sussex County Council
  • Eastbourne Borough Council
  • Lewes District Council
  • Wealden District Council

How we keep your information safe

We make sure that appropriate physical, technical and human controls are in place to ensure we take good care of your information.

However, the transmission of information over the internet is never completely secure and as a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, 3VA cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your data, we make every effort to try to ensure its security both on our systems and while in transit between our systems and our partners who work on our behalf.

All staff who have access to your personal data understand the importance of keeping your information safe and secure at all times and are given training to support them in this.

We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other websites even if you access them using links from our websites and recommend that you check the policy of each site you visit.

We ensure that additional controls are in place for financial, sensitive and special categories of information, meeting regulatory and legal requirements for managing these types of information.

Sometimes we may need to use a service provider or partner outside the European Economic Area (EEA) – which may include a country that does not have the same level of data protection as the UK. In these circumstances, we take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety and security of your information as set out in this Privacy Policy, including adhering to the EU-US privacy shield agreement.

How long we keep your information

We will hold your personal information on our systems for no longer than necessary for the relevant activity, and meet any legal or regulatory requirement. This is so that we can provide the services or information you have requested, to administer your relationship with us, to ensure we don’t communicate with you if you’ve asked us not to and to comply with the law.

You have the right to object to your data being processed by us and can do so by contacting our Team at 8 Saffrons Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21 1DG, by email at info@3va.org.uk or by phone on 01323 639 373.

You can request a copy of the personal information that we hold about you, known as a Subject Access Request. If you would like to do so, please send a description of the information you would like as well as approved proof of identity to 8 Saffrons Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21 1DG, by email at info@3va.org.uk.

You have the right to lodge a complaint about the way we manage your data with the Information Commissioners Office.

How to change the way we contact you

We always want you to be happy with the communication you receive from us. If you want to change how you hear from us, or update your details, simply get in touch with us and we can update your details including your communication preferences. You can call us on 01323 639 373 or email info@3va.org.uk. You can also change the way we contact you by using the unsubscribe link in an email from us.

Where you tell us that you no longer want to hear from us for marketing purposes, please be aware that we may still contact you for administration purposes such as fulfilling orders you have requested, or providing you with information you’ve requested or in helping resolve a query.

How we use cookies

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive. We use the following cookies:

  • Strictly necessary cookies: These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website or use a shopping cart.
  • Analytical/performance cookies: They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily.
  • Functionality cookies: These are used to recognise you when you return to our website. This enables us to personalise our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).
  • Targeting cookies: These cookies record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose.

You block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our site.

You can also find out more about cookies at www.allaboutcookies.org and www.youronlinechoices.eu.

What if I’m under 18?

If you are under 18, please make sure that you obtain your parent/guardian’s permission beforehand whenever you provide personal information via our websites. Users under the age of 18 without this consent are not allowed to provide us with personal information. Also, if you do use our sites to obtain information about local community services, or supporting the work of 3VA and its members, please let an adult know.

Changes to this policy

This information was last updated in July 2020. From time to time, we may make changes to the information on this page so you may wish to check back occasionally. The amended information will apply from the date it is posted on the site and will govern the way in which we collect and use personal information from then on.