Legal & Regulatory

Harpenden Trust is a Company limited by guarantee and is registered under the Charities Act. Company number 5951591. Registered charity number 1118870. Registered office at: 

Harpenden Trust Centre, 90 Southdown Road, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 1PS. 

(The Company is the successor to the charity The Harpenden Trust, Number 212973, founded in 1948).

General Privacy Notice

Under data protection legislation, The Harpenden Trust (referred to by the use of “we” or “us” in this notice) seeks to explain to anyone (referred to as “you” in this notice) from whom we collect personal information for any purpose: (a) your rights in respect of the information which we collect, and (b) our obligations for handling and safeguarding that information.

The information we need in order to be able to offer you the services you seek from us will be collected from you – and from no other source – in order to provide that assistance or those services and will be limited to the information we need to do so. Any additional personal information which you provide may be included at your request. Any information which comes into our possession from any other source will not be used unless you confirm that we may keep or use it. Where you require services from different parts of our organisation, relevant information will be shared among the different groups within our organisation, in order to provide the service(s) you wish to use.

You may be assured that your information will not be shared with, exchanged with, passed on to or sold to any other organisation – unless you have given express consent, or have asked us to do so – except where we may be obliged to do so by law.

All information collected will be held securely, retained for as long as it is needed to continue to provide services, or as long as the information is required for accounting or tax purposes, and will be disposed of securely when no longer required.

You have the right to know what information we hold about you, to have inaccuracies in it corrected and to request deletion, although you should note that requesting deletion may result in our being unable to continue to provide any of the services for which that information has been collected.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe that we have not carried out our obligations satisfactorily. They can be contacted at www.ico.org.uk, or you can call their helpline on 0303 123 1113.

For a more detailed Privacy Notice about how we process your personal information, relevant to the specific way you are engaging with the Trust, for example as a volunteer, member or hall hirer inter alia, please email [email protected], or write to our Secretary at the following address:

The Company Secretary
Harpenden Trust
Harpenden Trust Centre
90 Southdown Road
Harpenden 
Herts
AL5 1PS

Cookies and how we use them

A cookie is a small file placed on your computer's hard drive. It enables our website to identify your computer as you view different pages on our website.

Cookies allow websites and applications to store your preferences in order to present content, options or functions that are specific to you. They also enable us to see information like how many people use the website and what pages they tend to visit.

We may use cookies to:

  • Analyse our web traffic using an analytics package. Aggregated usage data helps us improve the website structure, design, content and functions.
  • Store information about your preferences. The website can then present you with information you will find more relevant and interesting.
  • To recognise when you return to our website. We may show your relevant content, or provide functionality you used previously.

Cookies do not provide us with access to your computer or any information about you, other than that which you choose to share with us.

Controlling cookies

You can use your web browser’s cookie settings to determine how our website uses cookies. If you do not want our website to store cookies on your computer or device, you should set your web browser to refuse cookies. However, please note that doing this may affect how our website functions. Some pages and services may become unavailable to you.

Unless you have changed your browser to refuse cookies, our website will issue cookies when you visit it.

Our website contains links to other websites.

Please note that we have no control of websites outside of the theharpendentrust.org.uk domain. We cannot be responsible for the content of external websites. If you provide information to a website to which we link, we are not responsible for its protection and privacy.

Always be wary when submitting data to websites. Read the site’s data protection and privacy policies fully.

Fundraising Regulator

The Fundraising Regulator is the independent regulator of charitable fundraising. It was established by the Government to strengthen the system of charity regulation and restore public trust in fundraising. The Trust has voluntarily registered with the Fundraising Regulator notwithstanding that its annual expenditure on fundraising is significantly below the compulsory registration threshold. 

We aim to comply fully with the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Practice in all our fundraising activities. We do not employ commercial fundraisers.

The Trust’s Fundraising Promise

The Harpenden Trust has adopted the Fundraising Regulator’s Fundraising Promise, which outlines the commitment we make to donors and members of the public to ensure that our fundraising is legal, open, honest and respectful. Its key terms are:

  • We will commit to high standards
  • We will be clear, honest and open
  • We will be respectful
  • We will be fair and reasonable
  • We will be accountable and responsible

Complaints Procedure

We have a robust complaints procedure should any members of the public have any concerns or complaints about the way we fundraise or any aspect of the work of the Harpenden Trust. We are committed to: 

  • investigating complaints thoroughly and objectively to establish the facts of the case
  • avoiding undue delay
  • responding to complaints fairly, proportionately and appropriately

Should you wish to make a complaint, please call 01582 460457 or email our Compliance Team at [email protected]. We endeavour to resolve problems when they arise by informal dialogue, however, if your concern cannot be dealt with satisfactorily in this way, we encourage you to use our formal complaints procedure. A copy of our Complaints Procedure is available. It sets out in clear and simple terms:

  • how to make a complaint
  • how we will respond
  • what happens if you are not satisfied with our response
  • how to escalate your complaint to the Fundraising Regulator (if your complaint is about our fundraising).

All complaints and concerns are reviewed by the Harpenden Trust and reported to the Board of Directors so that lessons can be learned. In addition we are committed to abide by any decision the Fundraising Regulator reaches on complaints concerning the Trust which are escalated to it. 

We encourage you to get in touch with your feedback.

Harpenden Trust Policies

As a caring organisation the Harpenden Trust seeks to provide an environment where all volunteers can work fairly and safely to serve the community. We will take reasonable precautions to protect and minimise risk to our volunteers, clients and the wider community we serve.

Harpenden Trust is committed to ensure that all volunteers are kept safe from harm whilst they are involved with the organisation in any way. Harpenden Trust and its volunteers will also fulfil the responsibilities in relation to any legislation, including the Equality Act (2010) to protect people from discrimination, and the Care Act (2014) to protect a person’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect.

To these ends the Harpenden Trust has a number of key policies which are available from the Trust’s Office on request.

The Abbeyfield Endowment

When Abbeyfield Harpenden closed down in 2008, the net proceeds of the sale of the property were handed to the Harpenden Trust which set about forming the separate Community Fund as we know it today.

The substantial legacy from Abbeyfield was known formerly as the Abbeyfield Benefaction. It has subsequently become known as the Abbeyfield Endowment. The instruction which came with the legacy was that its income must benefit organisations, charities and community groups within Harpenden.

The original Trust, with its work with individuals, families and young people in need, was renamed the Care Fund and, as a community organisation, it may receive grants from the Community Fund to help finance its activities.

This website is copyright the Harpenden Trust © 2016-22. All rights reserved.

Photography is courtesy of the Harpenden Trust, Brian Cooke (Harpenden Photographic Society) and Steve Parkes; additional photographs sourced from Shutterstock. The Trust gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Brian Cooke (Harpenden Photographic Society) and Steve Parkes and for their permissions to use the photographs on behalf of the Trust.