Purpose: Mind BLMK is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals by handling personal information in a safe and responsible way. We want everyone who accesses our services, supports us, or interacts with us to be informed and comfortable with how we process personal information. This policy explains when and why we collect personal information, how we use it, the situations in which we may share information, and how we keep information safe.
Updated 12th June 2026
Information we collect and why we use it
Mind BLMK is a mental health charity and as defined by the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR, a data controller. Mind BLMK collects and processes personal and sensitive personal information. Personal information is anything that identifies or could identify you. Sensitive personal information, also known as special category data, concerns your race or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data (when used for identification purposes), health, sex life and sexual orientation. We collect personal information for different purposes and the information may be:
- Information you give to us: for example, if you contact us by phone, email, or letter; complete a form supplied by Mind BLMK such as a registration, referral, feedback or application form; or donate or otherwise engage in monetary or financial activities with us. We may record calls for monitoring, training and quality purposes but if and where this applies, you will hear a recorded message to confirm this.
- Information we receive from other sources: for example, where you consent to a referral being made by another organisation to Mind BLMK; if you use a partner site we work with (such as donation and event registration platforms); and from other services where there is an Information Sharing Agreement (ISA) in place, joint delivery of services or delivery of services on behalf of another organisation.
- Information we collect about you We may collect information about you when you visit our website through cookies and other digital tools. No other channels result in your information being collected automatically. For more information about cookies, please see the sections below on cookies. The information we collect may include technical information such as the type of device you use to access our sites, your IP address, your location at the time of access, and your mobile operating system, browser, and network. We may also collect information about which pages on our site you visit, and which services, events and information are of interest to you. We may collect similar information when you click on links included in Mind BLMK communication materials, such as social media posts.
Why Mind BLMK collects this data
We collect personal information for several different purposes. The table below gives an overview of the types of information, why and how it is collected and the legal bases that may apply. Please contact us if you would like more information.
Processing activity and purpose: |
How the information is collected/source of information: |
Information we collect may include: |
Legal Bases (including for Special Category data) may include: |
|
Staff recruitment administration and management |
Application form, Applicant, Employee |
Name, date of birth, contact details, employment history, references, right to work, equality and diversity information |
Contract Consent Explicit Consent Legal obligation Legitimate interest |
|
Volunteer recruitment, administration and management |
Application form Applicant, Volunteer |
Name, date of birth, contact information, equality and diversity information |
Consent Explicit Consent Legitimate Interest |
|
Processing referrals to access our services and provide support to ensure health, safety and wellbeing |
Referral form, Service Use, Referrer |
Name, date of birth, contact details, health and wellbeing related information, equality and diversity information |
Consent Explicit Consent |
|
Referrals of service users to other health, social organisations |
Service User |
Name, date of birth, contact details, health and wellbeing related information |
Consent Explicit consent |
|
Safeguarding procedures to prevent harm |
Individuals including service users, Other organisations
|
Name, date of birth, contact information, ethnicity, health and wellbeing related information |
Consent Vital Interests Legal Obligation Recognised Legitimate Interest |
|
Influence and participation |
Expression of interest form, Participants |
Name, address, contact details |
Consent |
|
Comments, compliments and complaints |
Individuals, complainants |
Name and contact details, detail of complaint |
Consent Legitimate interest |
|
Guarantor membership administration |
Guarantor Membership Form, Guarantor Member |
Name, address, contact details |
Consent |
|
External training provision |
Individuals (training participants) |
Name, contact details, job title, organisation, equality and diversity information |
Consent Explicit Consent Legitimate Interest
|
|
Managing donations and participation in fundraising activities |
Donors, Supporters |
|
Consent Contract Legitimate Interest |
|
Website and digital platforms for marketing, communications |
Cookies Google Analytics Communication tools |
Technical information such as IP address, browser |
Legitimate Interest |
Our lawful basis for using your information
We will only use personal information where we have a lawful basis. In some cases, we will only use your personal information where we have your consent. In other cases, we may rely on another lawful basis. There are 7 grounds for lawfully processing personal data. These are:
- consent
- contract
- legal obligation
- vital interests
- public task
- legitimate interests
- recognised legitimate interests
How we keep your information safe
Your information is securely stored. We are committed to preserving the confidentiality and integrity of your information, ensuring it is only available to those who have authorised access. We ensure that when your information is stored, our practices are legally compliant. We have a variety of physical and digital protections in place to keep your information safe, and we ensure that data protection is a core part of staff training. We will let you know if your information is at risk in instances where a data breach could cause harm to you. For more information about how we store your information, you can request to see our IT Policy.
How long we store your information
We hold your information for different purposes, and each purpose requires we hold your information for a specific period. This is called the retention period and may be dictated by law, our funders or regulators, or we make a judgement about how long we need your information. Information is only kept for as long as is necessary to achieve the purpose it was collected for. Typically, each type of information will have a ‘trigger point’ for when the retention period applies. For example, we hold service user information for 8 years from the point of last contact. We will securely delete or anonymise documents no longer needed. Our Records Management Policy, which details our data retention procedures, can be provided on request.
Sharing your information data
We may share your information within Mind BLMK with relevant departments. However, this will only be done if it is required for the purpose of processing. There may be occasions where Mind BLMK shares data it has collected with third parties. These instances may include but are not limited to:
- when requested to by law
- ensuring the safety and/or wellbeing of someone
- when references are requested from other employers
- facilitate a contract of employment
We may share information outside of the organisation where we have a formal agreement called an Information Sharing Agreement (ISA). To ensure that data is processed and properly retained the agreement sets out:
- what data is shared
- which laws allows the sharing of this data
- how the data is shared
- who the agreement is between
- necessary security requirements
As we receive funding from the NHS for some of our services, we are required to provide information to NHS digital via the Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS). To find out more about this, please visit https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/. If you would like to opt out of this, please ring NHS Digital Contact Centre on 0300 303 5678.
Where necessary, Mind BLMK, may transfer personal information outside of the UK. When doing so, we comply with the UK GDPR, making sure appropriate safeguards are in place. For further information or to obtain a copy of the appropriate safeguard we use, please make contact using the details provided.
Your individual rights concerning your information
Mind BLMK is obligated to inform individuals of their data protection rights including:
- Your right to be informed: you have a right to know how we process your information, any changes to this processing or your information, and if your rights have been affected.
- Your right of access: you have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
- Your right to rectification: you have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
- Your right to erasure: you have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to restrict: you have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to object to processing: you have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to data portability: you have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
- Your rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling: the right to not be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that have legal or significant effects. Please note that Mind BLMK does not engage in this activity so it does not apply.
- Consent: where we use consent as our lawful basis you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
Please note, some of these rights only apply in certain circumstances. Where a right does not apply, we will communicate the reason to you. We may need to request specific information from you to confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal information or to exercise any of your other rights. This is a security measure to ensure your personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We will respond to legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take longer than a month and where this is the case, we will notify you and keep you updated. There are limited instances where Mind BLMK does not have to comply with a request. In this case, we would explain the reasons why and inform you of your right to complain to the ICO.
If you wish to exercise any of these rights please contact Mind BLMK’s Data Protection Officer. Their contact details are:
Phone: 0300 330 0648
Email: hq@mind-blmk.org.uk
Post: Mind BLMK, The Rufus Centre, Steppingley Road, Flitwick, Bedfordshire, MK45 1AH
How to complain
If you wish to complain about how Mind BLMK has handled your personal information, please contact us using the following contact details:
Phone: 0300 330 0648
Email: complaints@mind-blmk.org.uk
Post: Mind BLMK, The Rufus Centre, Steppingley Road, Flitwick, Bedfordshire, MK45 1AH
We will manage and respond to complaints in line with our procedure for complaints. Details can be found on our website here.
You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you are unhappy with how we have handled your data. You can access more information and contact the ICO using the following channels:
- ICO address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
- ICO Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
- ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk
- or you can make a complaint online.
Changes to this notice
We may change this policy to reflect changes in our practices and procedures so please refer to the latest version of this policy when you need to understand how we use your information. Should we make any changes to this policy, this will be communicated on our website.
Last updated: 12th June 2026
How we use cookies
How we use cookies
We use cookies and similar technologies (also known as tags, pixels, beacons and floodlights) on our websites to:
- Personalise content and digital ads
- Offer social media features
- Analyse traffic
This policy refers to both ‘cookies’ and ‘similar technologies’ as cookies. You can accept all the cookies that we use by clicking on the ‘Accept all’ button on our cookie banner. If you’d rather decide what cookies are set, you can choose by clicking on ‘Manage cookies’ on our cookie banner. You can opt out of all our cookies (except the strictly necessary ones) by clicking the ‘Reject all’ button on our cookie banner. You can also find out how to control and delete cookies in your browser. If you choose to refuse all cookies, our website might not work as well.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files. Websites you visit will place cookies on your computer, phone or other devices. They don’t store or collect information about you (like your name). But they’ll collect information related to:
- The devices you use to access the internet
- Your browser
- Your browsing history
Cookies are widely used to make websites work better for visitors. And to give information to the owners of the site.
What are tags?
We use tags to transfer data from our users to external sources like Facebook. We use them to track:
- How you interact with our websites and digital adverts (for example, when you’ve downloaded content, clicked on an advert or viewed a video)
- What pages you visit on our website
- How long you spent on those pages
- How you got to our website and when you left it
We use this information to monitor how well our digital adverts are doing.
How do we use cookies on our websites?
We use cookies on the websites to:
- Help users navigate around the website
- Work out whether the website is working well
- Gather statistics on how our website is being used, which can help us to improve it
- Personalise the service we offer by working out which areas of the website are most relevant to you
We also use cookies to make sure we keep your information confidential and secure as you move through secure or password-protected areas of our website. Some of the cookies that we use are Session Cookies. These are deleted when you close your browser. Others stay on your browser or device until they expire or until you delete them from your browser history. These are known as Persistent Cookies. All cookies have an owner. You can identify the owner by looking at the domain. The domain is the company or website name in the cookie. Cookies can be first-party. This means they’re owned by the website who set them. Or they can be third-party. This means they’re not owned by the website who set them. We use both first-party and third-party cookies on our websites. If you haven’t given us permission to set cookies through the cookies banner, we can’t track your visit and how you got here. If you visit our website using a different device or browser in the future, you’ll need to set your cookie preferences again.
Types of cookies we use
Below is a list of the main cookies we use on this website. The categories we use are based on the International Chamber of Commerce’s Guide for Cookie categorisation.
A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website asks your browser to store on your device. It does this to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies.
We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a different website domain – for our advertising and marketing. We use the cookies listed below.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
We need these cookies for the website to work properly. This means we can’t switch them off. They’re only set when you take certain actions – like setting your privacy preferences, logging into our sites, or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block these cookies, but this will mean our website won’t work as well.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count the number of people visiting our website and see where they’re coming from. This helps us to measure and improve the performance of our website and our digital ads.
They help us to:
- Know which pages are the most and least popular
- See how visitors move around the site
- Measure the impact of our digital adverts
If you don’t allow these cookies, we won’t know when you’ve visited or how you’ve reached our website. This means we won’t be able to monitor how well our digital ads or website are doing.
Personalisation Cookies
We use personalisation cookies to track the pages you visit on our websites. We track these so we can suggest relevant content based on the pages you’ve previously visited. If you don’t allow these cookies, you’ll get a less personalised experience on our websites.
Targeting Cookies
“Targeting Cookies” are used by our advertising partners (e.g. Facebook) to collect information about how you use our website (including visits to our information pages) and show you associated adverts on other sites. The information that’s been used to build that profile may also be used to find other people with similar interests to yours so that our adverts can be shown to them too. No directly identifiable personal information is shared with our advertising partners e.g. details such as your email address), but information that uniquely identifies your browser and internet device will be shared. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Third party cookies
So we can make improvements to our websites, take steps to ensure that our online advertising is cost effective, and provide you with content and ads that we think you’ll find interesting, our sites place cookies which are owned by third-party suppliers. Further details about the main suppliers that we use and links to their privacy information is provided below:
We use Google’s Marketing Platform cookies so that we can measure the impact of our digital advertising campaigns. This helps us to ensure that the money we spend on digital advertising is cost-effective. They also help us to serve adverts to people who have visited our websites and control the number of times that a website visitor sees an advert. We use Google Analytics cookies to help us measure how visitors use our websites. This helps us to improve peoples’ experience of using our sites and measure the effectiveness of our digital advertising campaigns.
Meta
We use Meta cookies so we can collect and send information to Meta about actions taken by visitors on our website. We also use Meta cookies to measure the effectiveness of our Meta ad campaigns which, in turn, helps ensure that we’re using our resources effectively.
Meta uses this information to provide services to us and also for further processing for its own business purposes. We and Meta are joint controllers of the processing involved in collecting and sending your personal information to Meta using cookies and similar technologies as each of us has a business interest in Meta receiving this information. The services we receive from Meta that use this information are delivered to us through Meta’s Business Tools. These tools allow us to target advertising to you within Meta’s social media platforms by creating audiences based on your actions on our website and allow Meta to improve and optimise the targeting and delivery of our advertising campaigns for us.
Our relationship with Meta. As we are joint controllers with Meta for certain processing, we have:
- entered into an agreement in which we have agreed each of our data protection responsibilities for the processing of your personal information described above;
- agreed that we are responsible for providing to you the information in this privacy policy about our relationship with Meta; and
- agreed that Meta is responsible for responding to you when you exercise your rights under data protection law in relation to it’s processing of your personal information as a joint controller.
Meta also processes, as our processor, personal information that we submit for the purposes of matching, online targeting, measurement, reporting and analytics purposes. These services include processing carried out on the platform when they display our advertisements to you in your news feed at our request after matching contact details for you that we have uploaded to them. These advertisements may include forms through which we collect contact information you give to us.
Further information. The Meta company that is a joint controller of your personal information is Meta Platforms, Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA in the UK. For further information regarding Meta and their use of your personal information, please see:
- Meta’s UK Controller Addendum for Business Tools which include information regarding how our and Meta’s responsibilities to you are allocated as controllers of your personal information; and
- Meta’s Data Policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy which includes details of the legal reasons (known as ‘lawful bases’) on which the platform relies to process your personal information, together with details regarding your data protection rights.
Managing cookies
You can control which cookies are set by clicking on ‘Cookie Settings’ on our cookies banner. You can amend your settings or withdraw your consent for cookies at any time by revisiting this policy and clicking on the ‘Manage my settings’ button below.
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