Privacy Policy

At Little Heroes, the charity for the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, accessible from littleheroesni.org, we are committed to protecting the privacy of our supporters, donors, families, volunteers and visitors.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect your personal information in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018.

If you have any questions, please contact us at:

Email: heretohelp@littleheroesni.org

Address: Little Heroes NI, 3rd Floor, Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, 180 Falls Road, Belfast, BT12 6BE

Telephone: 028 9027 8872

Information We Collect and Process

We may collect and process the following types of personal information:

Personal Information

• Name
• Email address
• Postal address
• Telephone and mobile telephone number
• Donation details and Gift Aid information
• Event participation details
• Volunteer and supporter information
• Corporate partner details and relationships
• Communication preferences
• Consent records

Sensitive Information (Where Applicable)

• Information relating to children and families supported by the charity
• Health or medical-related information where necessary (for example, volunteer capability or accessibility requirements)
• Personal stories, images and consent records

Website and Usage Data

• IP address
• Browser type
• Device information
• Website usage and browsing behaviour

How We Use Your Information

We use personal data to:

• process and acknowledge donations;
• maintain relationships with donors, supporters and partners;
• communicate about our work, campaigns, events and fundraising activities;
• manage volunteers, staff and partnerships;
• share stories and demonstrate impact where appropriate consent has been obtained;
• respond to enquiries;
• administer events, activities and volunteering opportunities;
• maintain communication preferences and consent records; and
• comply with legal, regulatory and safeguarding obligations.

Little Heroes does not provide clinical or therapeutic services and does not process personal data for those purposes.

Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data under one or more of the following lawful bases:

Legitimate Interests

To manage relationships with supporters, donors, volunteers, corporate partners and other stakeholders, including appropriate fundraising communications.

Consent

For specific uses such as:

• photography and videography;
• storytelling and case studies;
• email marketing where consent is required;
• SMS/text message marketing where consent is required; and
• other communications where consent is the appropriate lawful basis.

Legal Obligation

To comply with financial reporting requirements, Gift Aid regulations, safeguarding responsibilities and other legal obligations.

Contract

Where processing is necessary to fulfil an agreement, event registration, volunteering arrangement or other service requested by an individual.

You have the right to withdraw consent or object to processing where applicable at any time.

Marketing and Communications

Little Heroes may contact supporters, donors, volunteers, event participants, parents, carers and other stakeholders by email, telephone, post or SMS/text message where we have a lawful basis to do so.

Where consent is required, we will only send marketing communications where an individual has actively opted in to receive them.

Marketing communications may include:

• fundraising appeals and campaigns;
• charity news and updates;
• events and activities;
• volunteering opportunities;
• impact stories and supporter communications; and
• opportunities to support the work of Little Heroes.

Individuals can withdraw consent or update their communication preferences at any time by:

• clicking the unsubscribe link in marketing emails;
• replying STOP to SMS/text messages;
• contacting Little Heroes directly; or
• updating their preferences through any supporter portal or preference centre we make available.

We will never sell personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

Cookies and Tracking

Our website uses cookies to improve user experience and understand how visitors use our website.

Cookies may collect:

• IP addresses;
• browser and device information; and
• pages visited and time spent on the website.

You can manage cookie preferences through your browser settings.

Sharing Your Information

We do not sell or trade personal data.

We may share personal information with trusted third-party service providers where necessary to support our charitable activities, including:

• payment processors;
• fundraising and donation platforms;
• CRM and supporter management systems, including Donorfy;
• email and SMS communication providers, including Mailchimp;
• event management platforms;
• IT, website and cloud service providers; and
• professional advisers, auditors and regulators where required.

These organisations are required to process personal information securely, only for authorised purposes and in accordance with applicable data protection legislation.

We may also share information where required by law, safeguarding obligations, regulatory requirements or to protect the vital interests of an individual.

International Transfers

Some of our trusted service providers may process personal information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, Little Heroes will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect personal information in accordance with UK data protection legislation. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses or other approved transfer mechanisms.

Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, including:

• restricted access to systems and information;
• secure storage of sensitive data;
• use of trusted platforms and providers; and
• appropriate security controls and procedures.

While we take all reasonable steps to protect personal information, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.

Generally:

• donor and supporter information is retained to support ongoing relationships and fundraising activity unless you opt out or request deletion where applicable;
• financial records are retained in line with legal and regulatory requirements;
• safeguarding and sensitive records are retained securely and only for as long as necessary;
• volunteer records are retained for as long as required to manage volunteering relationships and associated legal obligations; and
• consent records are retained while associated content remains in use and for an appropriate period afterwards to demonstrate compliance.

When information is no longer required, it will be securely deleted or destroyed.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection legislation, you have the right to:

• access your personal data;
• request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data;
• request deletion of your data where applicable;
• request restriction of processing;
• object to processing, including direct marketing;
• withdraw consent where consent is relied upon; and
• request transfer of your data in certain circumstances.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below.

We will normally respond within one month.

Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to external websites.

Little Heroes is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of third-party websites and encourages users to review the privacy policies of any external sites they visit.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

The most recent version will always be available on our website. We encourage users to review this policy periodically to remain informed about how we collect, use and protect personal information.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how your information is handled, please contact:

Email: heretohelp@littleheroesni.org

Address: Little Heroes NI, 3rd Floor, Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, 180 Falls Road, Belfast, BT12 6BE

Telephone: 028 9027 8872

Updated:01 June 2026