Privacy Policy

Last updated: 6 August 2026

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how personal information is collected, used, stored and protected when you visit or interact with the Melp Foundation website at melpfoundation.org.

This policy applies specifically to personal information collected through this website. It does not necessarily cover information collected through Melp Foundation programmes, services, partnerships, schools, therapy services or other activities unless that information is submitted through this website.

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to MELP CO LTD, which operates the Melp Foundation website.

We are committed to protecting your personal information and handling it in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations and the Data Use and Access Act 2025.

2. Data Controller

The organisation responsible for deciding how personal information collected through this website is used is:

MELP CO LTD
4th Floor
Silverstream House
45 Fitzroy Street
Fitzrovia
London
W1T 6EB

Privacy enquiries can be sent to:

Email: sophie@melp.group

3. Information We Collect

We may collect the following information when you use this website.

Information provided through our contact form

When you submit an enquiry, we may collect:

1. Your name
2. Your telephone number
3. Your email address
4. Your postcode
5. The content of your enquiry
6. The name of your school, sports team, organisation or employer, where relevant
7. Any other information you choose to provide

Information provided by email

When you contact us by email, we may collect your email address, contact details and any information contained within your message.

Donation information

When you select the donation option on our website, you may be directed to a payment service operated by Stripe.

Stripe processes payment card information through its own secure checkout service. We do not normally receive or store your complete payment card details.

We may receive information relating to your donation, such as:

1. Your name
2. Your email address
3. The donation amount
4. The date of the donation
5. A payment or transaction reference
6. The status of the payment
7. Gift Aid information, where applicable

Stripe processes your information under its own privacy terms and acts as an independent data controller for some aspects of its payment services.

Technical and website usage information

When you visit the website, certain technical information may be collected automatically, including:

1. Your Internet Protocol address
2. Your browser type and version
3. Your device type and operating system
4. The pages you visit
5. The date and time of your visit
6. The website or search engine that referred you to us
7. Information about how you interact with the website
8. Your cookie and consent preferences

This information may be collected through server logs, cookies and similar technologies.

4. Health and Other Sensitive Information

Information concerning physical or mental health is classed as special category personal data and receives additional protection under data protection law.

Because the work of the Melp Foundation relates to mental health and wellbeing, you may choose to include health or wellbeing information in an enquiry.

Please only provide information that is necessary for us to understand and respond to your enquiry.

Where you voluntarily provide health information, we will only process it where we have both a lawful basis and an appropriate condition for processing special category information. This will normally include your explicit consent or another condition permitted by law.

You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting sophie@melp.group. Withdrawal of consent will not affect processing that took place before consent was withdrawn.

5. How We Use Your Information

We may use personal information collected through the website for the following purposes.

Responding to enquiries

We use contact details and enquiry information to:

1. Respond to questions
2. Provide information about the Melp Foundation
3. Discuss potential support, partnerships, programmes or fundraising
4. Direct an enquiry to the appropriate person
5. Maintain a record of our correspondence

Our lawful basis will normally be our legitimate interests in responding to enquiries and managing the Foundation’s activities.

Where your enquiry relates to a service or arrangement you have requested, processing may also be necessary to take steps at your request before entering into an agreement.

Processing and administering donations

We may use donation information to:

1. Confirm and record donations
2. Communicate with donors
3. Maintain financial and accounting records
4. Process Gift Aid, where applicable
5. Prevent fraud and resolve payment issues
6. Meet legal, regulatory and financial obligations

Our lawful bases may include legitimate interests and compliance with legal obligations.

Operating and securing the website

We may process technical information to:

1. Keep the website available and secure
2. Detect malicious activity, spam or attempted fraud
3. Diagnose technical problems
4. Protect our systems and website visitors
5. Improve the performance and accessibility of the website

Our lawful basis is normally our legitimate interest in operating a secure and effective website.

Website analytics

Where permitted, we may use analytics services to understand how visitors use the website and how it can be improved.

Where consent is legally required, analytics technologies will only be activated after you have provided consent through the cookie banner.

Where the law allows a limited exception for statistical or website improvement technologies, we will provide the information and choices required by law.

Marketing communications

We will only send marketing or fundraising communications where we have a lawful basis to do so.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time by using the unsubscribe option in the communication or by contacting sophie@melp.group.

Legal and regulatory purposes

We may use or retain information where necessary to:

1. Comply with a legal obligation
2. Respond to a regulatory authority
3. Establish, exercise or defend legal claims
4. Investigate suspected fraud or misuse
5. Handle a data protection complaint

6. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Cookies are small files placed on your device when you visit a website. Similar technologies may also be used to store or access information on your device.

Our website may use the following categories of cookies.

Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are required for the website to function, maintain security, remember privacy choices or provide a service requested by you.

Strictly necessary cookies do not normally require consent.

Preference cookies

These cookies remember choices you make about how the website operates or appears.

Analytics cookies

These cookies help us understand how visitors use the website, which pages are visited and whether technical problems occur.

Third party cookies

Some website features or external services may place their own cookies or similar technologies. These could include payment services, embedded content or analytics providers.

Where consent is required, non essential cookies will not be activated until you have made a choice through the cookie consent banner.

You can accept, reject or manage optional cookies using the cookie banner. You may also control cookies through your browser settings.

Rejecting optional cookies will not normally prevent you from using the main parts of the website, although some features may not operate as intended.

7. Sharing Your Information

We may share personal information with trusted service providers where this is necessary to operate the website or respond to your request.

These providers may include:

1. Website hosting providers
2. Website maintenance and security providers
3. Email and communication providers
4. Contact form providers
5. Analytics providers
6. Payment processors, including Stripe
7. Cloud storage or information technology providers
8. Accountants, legal advisers and professional consultants
9. Regulators, public authorities or law enforcement agencies where disclosure is required or permitted by law

Service providers acting on our behalf are only permitted to use personal information for the services they provide to us and must protect it appropriately.

We do not sell personal information to third parties.

8. International Transfers

Some service providers may process or store personal information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that it remains protected. These steps may include:

1. Transferring information to a country recognised as providing adequate protection
2. Using the United Kingdom International Data Transfer Agreement
3. Using the United Kingdom Addendum to approved standard contractual clauses
4. Applying another safeguard permitted by data protection law

You may contact us for further information about the safeguards used for international transfers.

9. How Long We Keep Your Information

We only keep personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

The retention period will depend on the type of information and the reason it is being processed.

Our usual retention approach is as follows:

Website enquiries

General enquiry records will normally be retained for no longer than 24 months after the enquiry has been resolved, unless there is an ongoing relationship or another reason to retain them.

Donation and financial records

Donation, payment and accounting records may normally be retained for six years after the end of the relevant financial year, or for another period required by tax, accounting or charity law.

Marketing records

Marketing contact information will be retained until you unsubscribe, withdraw consent or object to receiving communications.

We may retain a limited suppression record so that we can respect your request not to receive future communications.

Cookie consent records

Cookie preferences and consent records may be retained for as long as necessary to remember your choices and demonstrate compliance with legal obligations.

Technical records

Server logs and security records will normally be retained for a limited period, unless they are required to investigate a security incident or suspected misuse.

Information may be retained for longer where required by law, regulation, insurance, safeguarding obligations or legal proceedings.

10. How We Protect Your Information

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information from:

1. Unauthorised access
2. Accidental loss
3. Misuse
4. Alteration
5. Disclosure
6. Destruction

These measures may include access controls, secure hosting, software updates, encryption, backups and staff confidentiality requirements.

No website, email service or internet transmission is completely secure. You should avoid sending information through the website that is not necessary for your enquiry.

11. Children and Young People

The Melp Foundation supports schools, young people and sports organisations. However, this website is primarily intended for adults, parents, carers, schools, organisations, supporters and professional representatives.

We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from a child under the age of 13 through this website without appropriate consent from a parent or guardian where consent is legally required.

A child under 13 should not submit personal information through the website without the knowledge and involvement of a parent, guardian, school or responsible adult.

If we discover that information has been submitted by a child without appropriate consent, we will take reasonable steps to delete it unless we have another lawful reason to retain it.

12. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

1. Ask for access to the personal information we hold about you
2. Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
3. Ask us to delete your personal information
4. Ask us to restrict how your information is used
5. Object to certain uses of your information
6. Ask us to transfer information you provided to another organisation
7. Withdraw consent where we rely on consent
8. Object to the use of your information for direct marketing
9. Raise concerns about automated decision making

These rights are not absolute and may not apply in every situation.

To exercise a data protection right, contact:

sophie@melp.group

We may need to ask for information to confirm your identity before completing your request.

We do not normally charge a fee for responding to a data protection request. A reasonable fee may be charged, or a request may be refused, where permitted by law.

13. Automated Decision Making

We do not use personal information collected through this website to make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

14. Data Protection Complaints

Please contact us first if you have concerns about how your personal information has been handled.

Complaints can be sent to:

sophie@melp.group

We will acknowledge a data protection complaint within 30 days of receiving it. We will take appropriate steps to investigate the complaint without undue delay, keep you informed where necessary and explain the outcome.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is the independent UK regulator responsible for data protection.

A complaint can be submitted through the Information Commissioner’s Office website.

15. External Websites

This website may contain links to websites operated by other organisations, including Stripe and partner organisations.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security or content of external websites. You should review the privacy information provided by each external website before submitting personal information.

16. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to the website, our service providers, our data processing activities or the law.

The latest version will be published on this page and the date at the top of the policy will be updated.

17. Contact Us

For questions about this Privacy Policy, to exercise your rights or to make a complaint, contact:

MELP CO LTD
4th Floor
Silverstream House
45 Fitzroy Street
Fitzrovia
London
W1T 6EB

Email: sophie@melp.group