What is this privacy notice is for?

Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in the council’s primary privacy notice at:

• Data Protection - web page

This notice provides additional privacy information for:

• Individuals wishing to be recruited as a volunteer or involved on project participation for Northern

It explains how we use and share your information which may be collected in many different ways, such as on paper, by telephone, electronically or by a member of staff in person.

Updating our privacy notices

We may update or revise our privacy notices at any time so please refer to the latest version published on the Oldham Council’s website for the most up to date details.

What do we use your information for?

We collect your personal information for the following purpose(s):

• To enable us to process your initial application to become a volunteer or project participant (this includes any required DBS checks)
• For ongoing administrative purposes such as records maintenance, health and safety obligations, insurance matters and identifying volunteering/training opportunities
• To communicate with you about opportunities from ourselves and to seek appropriate permissions for you to participate in activities
• To monitor achievement of our diversity and inclusion aims and ensure equality of provision
• To ensure you are able to perform your role in a safe environment
• In the event of an emergency situation, to enable us to contact persons you identify as emergency contacts
• To fulfill any employment references you request

What categories of personal information do we use?

Personal information can be anything that identifies and relates to a living person. This can include information that when linked with other information, allows a person to be uniquely identified. For example, this could be your name and contact details.

The law treats some types of personal information as ‘special’ because the information requires more protection due to its sensitivity. This information consists of:

• Racial or ethnic origin
• Sexuality and sexual life
• Religious or philosophical beliefs
• Trade union membership
• Political opinions
• Genetic and biometric data
• Physical or mental health
• Criminal convictions and offences

In order to carry out the purposes outlined above, we collect and obtain the following personal information.

Legal basis for processing

The legal basis for processing and or sharing your personal information is:

• You have consented for us to do so or your parent/carer has provided consent if you are under 18 years of age under Article 6 (1)(a) of the
• Equality Act 2010
• The Human Rights Act 1998
• Health and Safety at Work Act
• Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

Information may also be shared without your consent if it is necessary to protect individuals from harm, or because a serious crime has, or may be committed. Various pieces of legislation set out the circumstances in which organisations are permitted, or required, to do this. These include, for example, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, the Data Protection Act 2018, the Children Acts 1989 and 2004.

Information sharing/recipients

• We will share your information internally for the purpose of administration and/or
• We may use other organisations to carry out tasks on our behalf, such as using Mailchimp to forward our newsletters via email. We will provide these organisations with only the information needed to deliver their services and they are not permitted to use or store your data for any other
• If you claim out-of-pocket expenses, we will share your bank details with our financial payments provider.
• We may use other organisations to carry out tasks on our behalf, including analyzing and evaluating data for research purposes, we will provide these organisations with

only the information needed to deliver these services, and they are not permitted to use or store your data for any other purpose.

• We will never sell your details to third parties nor share your information with any other organisations for their marketing purposes.

Identifiable personal information could be shared under the following circumstances:

• If something you tell us raises a safeguarding concern and we have a statutory duty to act upon it
• You raise a specific personal issue or concern that requires addressing
• You ask us to share your personal details with any other third parties

How long do we keep your data?

We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including satisfying any future legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

If you’re interested in volunteering, Northern Roots will keep your personal details on file for a period of up to 9 months in order to offer you volunteering roles.

If we are unable to offer you a role within this time, then we will delete them.

If you are accepted as a volunteer for Northern Roots we will keep your personal data for:

• 2 years after your volunteering role ends
• 7 years (or longer if required by law) if your personal data relates to a formal complaint or a reported health and safety incident

What happens if you do not provide the data?

Certain volunteer or project participant roles may require further information beyond our minimum requirements. If you are unable to provide Northern Roots with this additional information, then we may not be able to process your application further.

Automated Decisions

All the decisions we make about you involve human intervention.

Accuracy of your information

It is important that we hold accurate and up to date information about our participants/members in order to deliver our services safely and effectively. If any of your details have changed, please ensure that you inform us as soon as possible so that we can update your records.

Where can I get advice?

More information on how to seek advice in order to exercise your rights, raise a concern or complain about the handling of your personal information by the council can be found in the councils’ privacy notice: 

• Data Protection - web page