Privacy & Cookie Policy

The St Helens Sinfonietta

Data Protection and Privacy Policy

Forward. Although the regulations are complicated, the data requirements of The St Helens Sinfonietta (SHS) are quite simple. It is, however, important that you understand the data we will record and what we will do with it. In some instances, you will need to give specific permission for us to hold or process your data (for example, we will not be able to send you marketing information about future events without your express permission). You may withdraw this permission at any time subject to any legal restrictions as noted below in 7(c).

The Policy in detail.

1) Who are we?

St Helens Sinfonietta runs live musical events for our audiences. It is a registered charity (No. 1116343) and an unincorporated organisation. It is run by an unpaid committee of trustees and other volunteers. We may engage separate organisations to provide some of elements of our services.

2) Why we collect and process your data.

We need to engage and pay performers, hire venues, market and sell tickets, and provide people to staff events. We collect personal data and process it only to the extent required to provide these services.

3) Legal Basis

a) Legitimate Interest: In some instances, permission to collect and use the data in the ways described above is covered by our legitimate interests. It is obviously necessary for SHS to administer its players’ event bookings, contracts for buying services or providing services to others, process ticket orders and sales, and record gift-aid-declared donations. Specific consent is not required for this.

b) Consent. Specific consent is required where we send out marketing information to named contacts, particularly by electronic means (emails). This is achieved by use of a Mailing List which you may sign-up for and is also integral to membership of our Friends & Patrons group. There will be a separate opt-in (tick box) for electronic marketing. Where data is provided orally (including by telephone) we will ask you if you wish to receive electronic marketing from us and keep a record of that consent.

4) Data collected

a) Information about events that you have booked.

b) Contact information where you have provided it.

i) This may include name, address, telephone numbers, email address, banking details where you have agreed to provide these for the payment of fees, and disability requirements. The information collected may depend on the type of contact or any choices you make.

c) Information about donations made or fees paid for membership of the Friends & Patrons. 

d) Information about other organisations, their contact persons, and about any payments made by us or fees received from them (for example: when a venue has been hired, or when SHS has been engaged by another party to provide a concert).

e) Gift-Aid declarations and details of donations made under them. This information will be kept securely for as long as we are legally required to do so. You may withdraw this declaration at any time, but we will still have to keep the original form as per the previous sentence.

5) Purposes

a) For the efficient administration of our ticket sales and running of events.

  1. We will use a ticket purchase agency (currently Ticket Source) to provide an online ticket-buying service and to help run our in-house ticketing by providing a unified inventory of online and in-house sales. They will also provide a ticket production service for us. To facilitate this, we will provide the agency with your name, which will be printed on the ticket. Where you have provided it to us, we may also provide TS with your postcode (without the postcode the system will enter you as new person of the same name every time you book or buy a ticket).
  2. Where you have used TS yourself to buy tickets, you may have provided further details to TS including card payment details, and at your discretion further personal details.
  • If you are a Friend or Patron, we will provide TS with your name, postcode, and your membership number. This information is also needed so that you can buy tickets online.
  1. To allow us to contact people in the event of a problem with payment or cancellation of a concert or recital.
  2. To run the Mailing List, and the Friends & Patrons list.
  3. To book performers and pay them.
  4. To manage the event at the venue and cater for any special needs of disabled people (examples: limiting the size of audience when ‘health lockdown’ rules require it; providing for wheelchair users).
  5. To send marketing information to those who have opted-in for this, including details of forthcoming events and invitations to become, or renew as, a Donor, Friend or Patron.

6) Data security.

  1. Paper-based information supplied by you will be kept securely, when not being used, in a locked cabinet. Where information and permissions are given orally, we may keep a paper transcription and/or an electronic record.
  2. We may transfer your data into an electronic record which will be kept on a password-protected personal computer. A copy may also be held on a remote server (for example on Microsoft’s OneDrive or Google Drive) which both claim to be fully compliant with UK GDPR regulations.
  3. Where you buy tickets via the online ticket sales agency (TS) who are engaged by us, you will need to provide them with sufficient information to enable the purchase and processing of your payment. TS also claims full compliance with GDPR and Privacy regulations and will not use your information for any other purposes than the ones we engage them to provide unless you directly authorise it to do so. We believe that TS does comply with UK GDPR.
  4. The three organisations mentioned above (TS, Google, and Microsoft) publish their own data protection and privacy policies which are available on their websites.

7) Retention of information

  1. We will keep your data for as long as necessary to fulfil the contract (for example, until the event you have bought tickets for, or performed for, has occurred) and for up to twelve months after this unless you agree to a longer period.
  2. If you have joined the Mailing List, or are a member of the Friends & Patrons, or are a donor, we will keep your data for as long as you remain in those categories and for up to two years afterwards. This is to ease continuity for people who allow their membership to lapse for a period and then renew again.

c) If your membership fees or donations have been gift-aided, we will keep your gift-aid donations records for as long as we are legally required to do so (currently 7 years).

8) Destruction of redundant data: When data is no longer needed to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected it will be removed from all storage devices involved subject to the duration limits above.

9) Your Rights: To enact any of your rights please contact the person named in our literature and on our website.

a) You may request a copy of the information we hold about you.

b) You have the right to request that inaccurate information be corrected.

c) You may request the removal of your details from our database (may be subject to the retention periods listed above).

d) You may object to the processing of your data by us.

10)  Sharing your data.

We will not pass any of your information to any persons or organisations other than as described above, except where they have a legal right to it.

Gift Aided donations are an example where we are required to provide your information to HMRC