Privacy policy

Future Woodlands Scotland is committed to protecting the privacy of everyone who engages with us, including supporters, grant applicants, partners and visitors to our website.

We comply with UK data protection law, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which requires that any personal data you provide is handled with care and kept secure.

1. What information do we collect?

We may collect personal information when you:

• visit our website
• contact us
• subscribe to our newsletters
• make a donation
• apply to our funding programmes
• attend events or work with us

This may include your name, contact details, organisation, project information and website usage data.

2. How we use your information

We use your information to:

• respond to enquiries
• manage applications, projects and partnerships
• process donations
• send relevant updates, newsletters and event information
• improve our website and communications

3. Marketing and communications

We may send you updates about our work, events and opportunities:

• where you have given consent, or
• where there is a legitimate interest or a “soft opt-in” (for example, if you have previously engaged with us, applied for funding, attended an event, or supported our work)

In these cases, we will only contact you with information relevant to your relationship with us, and you can opt out at any time.

4. Other uses of your personal information

Where we wish to use your personal information for purposes not set out above, we will provide additional information at the point of collection.

5. Who we share your personal information with

We may share personal information:

• with statutory or regulatory authorities where required
• with professional advisers (such as legal or financial advisers) where necessary

We may also publish limited personal information where appropriate with your consent, for example to support transparency about our governance and funding activities.[ER1] 

6. Third-party suppliers

We may use third-party suppliers to provide services. These organisations may process personal data on our behalf and must:

• only process data under our instructions
• keep information secure

7. Using Meta custom audiences  

To reach new audiences and ensure our communications remain relevant, we may use tools such as Meta (Facebook and Instagram) Custom Audiences.

This allows us to:

• show relevant content to existing supporters
• avoid showing duplicate or irrelevant messages
• reach new people through “lookalike audiences”

Where we use these tools:

• we only use data where consent or appropriate lawful basis exists
• email addresses are securely “hashed” (converted into encrypted codes) before being shared
• the data is used only for matching purposes and is not retained or used for other activities.

8. Cookies and website data

We use cookies and similar technologies to collect basic information about how our website is used, including:

• browser type
• IP address
• pages visited

This helps us understand how people use our site and improve content.

You can set your browser not to accept cookies; however, if you decline them, it may prevent some website features from functioning as intended.

9. How long we keep your personal information for

We will retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected or as required by law.

10. Individual rights under GDPR

You have rights under UK data protection law, including:

• access to your personal information
• correction of inaccurate information
• deletion in certain circumstances
• restriction of processing
• withdrawal of consent at any time.

To exercise your rights, please contact us at [email protected]

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on our website.

11. Contact us

We take complaints very seriously and we encourage people to notify us immediately if they think that our collection or use of information is inaccurate, unfair, misleading or inappropriate. 

If you have any questions or concerns about how we use your information, please contact: [email protected]

If you are dissatisfied, you have the right to raise a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office: www.ico.org.uk