Privacy Policy - Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders

Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders (Registered Charity number 1172132)

Updated 19 June 2026

Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders (“the Charity”) is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Policy sets out why we collect personal information about individuals and how we use that information. It explains the legal basis for this and the rights you have over the way your information is used.

The Charity reserves the right to update this Privacy Policy from time to time so please refer back occasionally to see any updates or changes to this Policy.

If you have any questions about this Policy or concerning your personal information please contact our Data Control Officer Ian Woodrow on:- 01493 378178 or by post to Ian Woodrow c/o Yarmouth Greyhound Stadium, Yarmouth Rd, Caister-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth NR30 5TE.

What type of personal information we collect

The type and amount of information we collect depends on why you are providing it.

The information we may collect when you make an enquiry includes your name, email address, postal address, phone number and sometimes date of birth.

If you are interested in adopting a greyhound from us, including applying to adopt or reserving a greyhound, in addition to asking for your name and full contact details (postal address, telephone number and email address) we ask you to provide us with information about your home, personal circumstances and in some cases health or mobility requirements so that we are better able to match you with a greyhound that is going to best meet its, and your or your family’s needs. We will also ask you to provide proof of identity e.g. your passport, driving licence or utility bill. Also your name and contact details will be collected when a home visit form or a transfer of ownership form is completed.

If you are interested in fostering a greyhound for us, in addition to asking for your name and full contact details (postal address, telephone number and email address), we ask you to provide us with information about your home, personal circumstances and in some cases health or mobility requirements so that we are better able to ensure that is going
to best meet the greyhounds, and your or your family’s needs. We will also ask you to provide proof of identity e.g your passport, driving licence or utility bill. Also your name and contact details will be collected when a home visit form or a fostering form is completed.

If you are an owner or trainer who places or enquires about placing a greyhound(s) with the Charity for adoption you will be asked for your name and full contact details (postal address, telephone number and email address). We may also ask for the greyhound’s medical records and other information relating to the greyhound(s) to help us assess how we might safely and permanently rehome them.

If you are a donor, we will ask for your name and contact details (your full address, email address and your phone number). If you a donor and you have completed a Gift Aid Declaration we will ask you for information on your tax status in order to recover Gift Aid. If you made a Gift Aid declaration we must record the fact that you are a UK taxpayer and we have to maintain a record of the amount of Gift Aid we have claimed.

If you use your credit or debit card to pay us, donate to us, or buy something from us we pass your card details securely to our payment-processing partner as part of the payment process. We do this in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Security Standard and do not store the details on our website or databases.

If you volunteer, the information that we collect is set out in the application to volunteer form. We use your personal information to manage your volunteering activity, deliver training, involve you in, and update you on, our projects and campaigns and to ensure your safety.

If you are a job applicant the information you are asked to provide is as set out in the information form and is necessary for the purposes of our considering your application.

If you are a Kennel Sponsor we hold the information you provide on the sponsorship form.

If you are a Lottery member we hold the information you provide on the lottery application form.

How we collect information

We may collect information from you whenever you contact us or have any involvement with us for example when you:

apply to adopt a dog
when a home checking visit is made
the ownership of a dog is transferred to you
visit our website
donate to us
join our Lottery
sponsor a kennel or fund raise for us
enquire about our activities
sign up to receive news about our activities
volunteer for us
apply for a job
contact us with a view to finding a home for a dog
contact us in any way including online, email, phone, SMS, social media or by post.

Where we collect information from

We collect information from you when you give it to us directly:

You may be asked to provide your details when you ask us for information or make a donation, join our Lottery, sponsor a kennel, volunteer, apply to adopt a greyhound or enquire about adopting a greyhound or contact us for any other reason.
When you use our website, information about you is recorded and stored.

We have summarised below the different reasons why we collect information (these are often referred to as ‘purposes’). How we use your information for these purposes will depend on the nature of our relationship with you.

Examples of purposes for which we collect, store and process your information

Rehoming greyhounds: If you have registered to adopt a greyhound from us we will use the information you provide us to help us find you the right dog, to provide you with aftercare services once you have adopted a greyhound, to communicate with you regarding our wider work and how you might support the Charity in other ways.
Taking in greyhounds from owners or trainers for adoption: If you have contacted us with a view to the Charity rehoming a greyhound, we will use the information you provide us to establish how we can best look after the dog while it is in our care; to assess how we might safely and permanently rehome the greyhound; and to contact you to discuss adoption matters.
Volunteering: We will use information you have provided to enable us to match you to available volunteering opportunities; To support and train volunteers and ensure their safety.
Communication: To enable us to communicate with volunteers regarding their volunteering work, the wider work of the Charity and how they might support in other ways.
Enquiries: To enable us to record, consider and reply to enquiries.
Donations: To process your donation and send you a thank you letter; We may also use your personal information for the recovery of Gift Aid (where you have completed a Gift Aid declaration).
Lottery: If you apply to join the Lottery we will use the information you provide on the application form to contact you if you win a prize or to remind you when your membership is due for renewal.
Kennel sponsorship: If you complete the sponsorship form, we will use the information you provide on the form to contact you to thank you and to remind you when your membership is due for renewal.
Marketing and Fundraising: We may use information you have provided to send you marketing materials including news and updates about our greyhounds, general information about rehoming, volunteering and various ways you can support the Charity, including fundraising, events and campaigning
Manage, facilitate and record financial transactions associated with fundraising: We use the information to manage events and fundraising activities; To ensure that as many supporters as possible maximise the value of their donation through Gift Aid.
Retail trading and online purchases: To fulfill orders for goods and services
Photography and videography: To collect and store images and videography with the purposes of promoting the Charity in general and to promote future fundraising events, on our website and in PR communications.
Employment: To enable the Charity to select and recruit staff

Our legal basis for processing your information

We are required under law to make sure that we have a valid ground for processing your data. The law sets out six different grounds for when personal data can be processed (plus additional ones where sensitive data is used). The four legal grounds that are most relevant to the Charity’s use of your personal information are: Consent; Legitimate Interest; Contract; Legal Obligation.

Overview

The Charity will only process your personal information if any of the following apply: We have asked you for your express consent and have a record of this (for example, we will ask for your consent to use information to send you our newsletter and fundraising appeals by email). We have a legitimate interest to do so.

If we have a contract with you we will use personal data when we can only fulfill the contract by using your personal data.

Our use will be fair and balanced and never unduly have an impact on your rights.

If you purchase something from our shop or donate to the Charity we may have a legal obligation to use or disclose information about you (for example, we are required by law to keep a record of Gift Aid declarations for six years).

Consent: In some cases we will rely on consent, for example to send you marketing, event notifications and fundraising emails, phone calls and text messages.

If you register as a volunteer it can be very helpful if you share information on any medical conditions that may affect your ability to perform your voluntary work.

If you wish to withdraw consent for these channels and activities please contact our Data Control Officer Ian Woodrow on:- 01493 378178 or by post to Ian Woodrow c/o Yarmouth Greyhound Stadium, Yarmouth Rd, Caister-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth NR30 5TE.

Legitimate Interests: This legal ground for processing means that we can process your personal information if we have a genuine and legitimate reason for doing so, and that reason is not overridden by your rights and interests as an individual. Examples of the legitimate interests processing we undertake are: To allow us to meet the welfare needs of and provide the best possible care for every animal in accordance with our charitable objectives; To provide the appropriate veterinary treatment and care for a greyhound placed with the Charity for adoption and to offer expert advice and guidance to enable you to meet the welfare needs of your animal; To assess suitability for rehoming and to follow up with you about your rehoming enquiry; To capture the information we need when we take in a greyhound, to allow us to care for that animal and if possible, ultimately rehome it; To provide you with aftercare services once you have adopted a greyhound from us; To conduct home visits to assess suitability as part of the adoption process; To register the adopter’s’ details with microchip databases; To contact dog walkers regarding their walking schedule; To determine the suitability of volunteers (particularly new volunteers) for volunteer opportunities; To raise the fundraising income to allow us to be here for the greyhounds; To process your donations, kennels sponsorship or Lottery membership and where appropriate Gift Aid where you have asked us to do so; To send you marketing communications by post or electronically.

For administration purposes: To provide you with information about any fundraising activities you have agreed to take part in; To process payments due to us; To follow up with you about your enquiry.

Processing Activities relevant to the aims and objectives of the Charity: To recruit and manage volunteers; To assess volunteer (including foster carer) applications and recruit volunteers; To communicate with volunteers about information that is essential to their role, and about the wider activities of the Charity; To recruit and process volunteers including Home Visitors to effectively administer their close relationships with the Charity and provide them with appropriate care and support.

We have considered and balanced our legitimate interests against individuals’ privacy rights in these scenarios and we do not believe that any adversely affect our supporters’ rights or interests.

If you would like to find out more or ask us to stop processing your data in these ways, you can do this at any time by contacting our Data Control Officer Ian Woodrow on:- 01493 378178 or by post to Ian Woodrow c/o Yarmouth Greyhound Stadium, Yarmouth Rd, Caister-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth NR30 5TE.

Contractual relationships: In some cases, we will be under a contractual obligation to provide you with goods and services, which means that we have to process your data in order to fulfil those obligations. An example of this is if you are rehoming an animal from us, or purchasing something from our shop(s).

A legal obligation: Sometimes we may have a legal obligation to process information about you – for example we are obliged to keep financial records including Gift Aid for six years.

How we keep your information safe

The security of your personal information is important to us and we take reasonable security measures to prevent the loss, misuse or unauthorised access to or alteration of personal data under our control. Paper data is secured in a locked cabinet to which only authorised personnel have access. Electronic information is password protected with only authorised personnel having access to the password.

But given all the inherent risks we cannot guarantee the absolute security of any information you transmit to us.

Who has access to your information: Third parties who provide services for us, for example mailing/emailing services that we use to send out our newsletters. We select our third party service providers with care. We provide these third parties only with the information that is necessary to provide the service and we will have an agreement in place that requires them to operate with the same care over data protection as we do; Our volunteer Home Visitors to conduct home visits to assess suitability as part of the rehoming process; Our Lottery manager to administer the Lottery; Our Kennels sponsorship manager to administer the Sponsorship scheme; Our Fundraising Chair to organise the attendance of volunteers at fund raising events/activities and to organise Fundraising Committee meetings; Our Track and Trainer Liaison Officer and Kennels Manager to discuss and process placement of dogs with the Charity for rehoming

We may also disclose your personal information if we are required to do so under any legal obligation and may use external data for the purposes of fraud prevention and credit risk reduction, or where doing so would not infringe your rights, but is necessary and in the public interest. Other than this, we will not share your information with other organisations without your consent.

Keeping your information up to date

We really appreciate it if you let us know if your contact or other details change. You can do so by contacting our Data Control Officer Ian Woodrow on:- 01493 378178 or by post to Ian Woodrow c/o Yarmouth Greyhound Stadium, Yarmouth Rd, Caister-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth NR30 5TE.

Our use of “cookies”

“Cookies” are small pieces of information sent by a web server to a web browser, which enable the server to collect information from the browser. They are stored on your hard drive to allow our website to recognise you when you visit. You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies.

How long we keep your information for

We will hold your personal information only for as long as it is necessary for the relevant activity. By way of example, we hold records of donations you make for at least six years so we can fulfill our statutory obligations for accounts purposes or if you rehome an animal we will keep details relating to your rehoming circumstances for 2 years. If you are a Lottery member your personal data will be deleted/destroyed if you cease to be a member. If you are a volunteer your personal data will be deleted/destroyed as soon as is practicable after you inform the Charity that you no longer wish to volunteer. If you apply to adopt a dog the data provided will be deleted/destroyed when it is known that you will not be adopting a dog.

If you would like more information on our Retention Policy please contact our Data Control Officer Ian Woodrow on:- 01493 378178 or by post to Ian Woodrow c/o Yarmouth Greyhound Stadium, Yarmouth Rd, Caister-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth NR30 5TE.

Where we rely on your consent to contact you for direct marketing purposes, we will treat your consent as lasting only for as long as it is reasonable to do so. We may periodically ask you to renew your consent. If you tell us that you no longer want to receive further contact from us and you are on our volunteer database, it may take a short while before our communications stop altogether as selection of supporter information for some of our appeals is done a few weeks in advance of mailing. If you request to receive no further contact from us, we will keep the information we hold on you and add you to our suppression lists to ensure that you do not receive unwanted materials in the future.

Your rights

You have the right to request details of the processing activities that we carry out with your personal information through making a Subject Access Request. Such requests have to be made in writing. To make a request contact us at If you have any questions about this Policy or concerning your personal information please contact our Data Control Officer Ian Woodrow by a letter addressed to Ian Woodrow c/o Yarmouth Greyhound Stadium, Yarmouth Rd, Caister-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth NR30 5TE.

You also have the following rights: the right to request rectification of information that is inaccurate or out of date; the right to erasure of your information (known as the “right to be forgotten”); the right to restrict the way in which we are dealing with and using your information; and the right to request that your information be provided to you in a format that is secure and suitable for re-use (known as the “right to portability”); rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling including profiling for marketing purposes.

All of these rights are subject to certain safeguards and limits or exemptions.

To exercise any of these rights or if you have any questions on our policy you should contact our Data Control Officer Ian Woodrow on:- 01493 378178 or by post to Ian Woodrow c/o Yarmouth Greyhound Stadium, Yarmouth Rd, Caister-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth NR30 5TE.

If you are not happy with the way in which we have processed or dealt with your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Further details about how to complain can be found https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

Changes to this Privacy Policy

This Policy may be changed from time to time and we will advertise this on our website.

Do please check this Policy each time you consider giving your personal information to us.