We take your privacy seriously and we want you to feel completely confident that your personal information is in safe hands with us. This notice explains what data we collect, why we need it, how we use it, and what your rights are.

 

1. Who We Are

Chattertots is the Controller of the personal data you provide to us. We are a Berkshire-based charity supporting families of children with Down Syndrome. Our registered address is:

1 Oak Cottage, Hungerford Lane, Shurlock Row, RG10 0PH

Registered Charity No. 1198362

 

The Charity Manager (Clare McIntosh) is responsible for day-to-day data protection compliance, including responding to requests and ensuring this policy is followed, in line with our Data Protection Policy (March 2026).

 

2. What We Collect

Unless we have agreed otherwise with you, we collect only the basic personal data we need to provide our services. This includes:

• Your name, email address, telephone number, and the area in which you live

• Your child’s name, gender, date of birth, and expected school start date

• School details and educational setting information

• Financial information for the purposes of reimbursing costs

 

Where relevant to your child’s health, wellbeing, welfare, or safeguarding, we may also hold relevant health information, including Down Syndrome diagnosis and associated conditions, developmental histories, and speech and language therapy information. This is classed as special category data under UK GDPR and we will only hold it with your explicit consent as a parent or guardian.

 

Where parents share Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) to enable us to provide advocacy support, we handle these documents under particularly strict controls — see our Data Protection Policy for full details.

 

We collect this information when you complete forms at events or online, or when you correspond with us.

 

3. Why We Need It

We collect personal data solely to provide the services you have requested from us. Without it, we would not be able to support your family effectively. We do not collect any data we do not genuinely need.

 

We process your data on the following lawful bases:

• Consent — for processing special category data (health information) and for communications

• Legitimate interests — for delivering our charitable services to families across Berkshire

• Legal obligation — for safeguarding reporting and charity compliance requirements

 

4. What We Do With It

Your personal data is only accessed by Chattertots trustees, staff, and authorised third-party partners who are directly involved in delivering services to your family. Access is granted on a need-to-know basis. We take all reasonable steps to ensure your data is processed and stored securely, including secure cloud storage, password protection, and encrypted communications for sensitive documents.

 

With your consent, we may contact you by email, phone, social media, or messaging (including WhatsApp) to share information about our services and events.

 

We may share your data with our delivery partners — such as Symbol UK and Inclusively Down — solely for the purpose of delivering Chattertots services to your family. All third-party providers are required to process your data only for specified purposes and in line with our instructions, and have written Data Processing Agreements in place.

 

We may disclose personal information where required by law, or where necessary to protect the safety and welfare of participants, members, or others. This includes safeguarding disclosures in line with our Safeguarding Policy (March 2026).

 

We do not transfer your data outside the UK.

 

5. How Long We Keep It

We keep your personal data while you are actively receiving our services or engaged with Chattertots. We may continue to be in touch for up to three years after your last service with us, if we believe we have something relevant and useful to share.

 

We will securely destroy personal data five years after a family’s last involvement with us, or sooner if you request it and we are able to do so. Financial records are retained for seven years in accordance with charity financial requirements. Safeguarding records are retained in line with safeguarding guidance, which may be longer than standard retention periods. In some cases, we may need to retain certain data for longer for legal or regulatory reasons.

 

6. Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

• Request access to the personal data we hold about you

• Ask us to correct inaccurate data

• Ask us to erase your data (in certain circumstances)

• Restrict or object to the way we process your data

• Receive your data in a structured, commonly used format (data portability)

• Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent

 

To exercise any of these rights, please contact Clare McIntosh using the details in Section 8. We will endeavour to respond within one month. These rights are subject to certain exemptions, particularly where retention is required for legal or safeguarding purposes.

 

7. Data Protection Complaints

We hope you will never have cause for concern — but if you do, we want to make it easy for you to tell us.

 

How to complain

Please contact Clare McIntosh in the first instance. We will acknowledge your complaint within 7 working days and aim to provide a full written response within 21 working days. If our investigation needs more time, we will keep you informed.

 

Email: clare.chattertots@outlook.com

Phone: 07568 424187

Post: 1 Oak Cottage, Hungerford Lane, Shurlock Row, RG10 0PH

 

What we will do

We will take your complaint seriously, investigate it thoroughly, and let you know what we find and what steps — if any — we will take as a result. We handle all complaints confidentially and in line with our Complaints Policy and Data Protection Policy.

 

How to escalate

If you are not satisfied with our response, or if you prefer not to contact us directly, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) — the UK’s independent body for data protection:

 

Website: www.ico.org.uk

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

 

8. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, please get in touch:

Clare McIntosh, Charity Manager

Email: clare.chattertots@outlook.com

Phone: 07568 424187

Web: www.chattertots.org

 

This privacy notice is reviewed bi-annually alongside our Data Protection Policy. It should be read in conjunction with our Data Protection Policy (March 2026), Complaints Policy, and Safeguarding Policy (March 2026).

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Chattertots  Registered Charity No. 1198362

Last updated: June 2026