Donate

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-09-16

Who we are

Catastrophes Cat Rescue is a registered charity in England and Wales, charity number 1017304. Our address is Half Moon Cottage, Bakers Lane, Dallington, Heathfield, East Sussex, TN21 9JS. For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018, Catastrophes Cat Rescue is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy.

You can reach us on +44 (0)1435 830212 or at Lizzie@CatastrophesCats.org.

About this policy

This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with and what rights you have over it. It applies to supporters, donors, adopters, volunteers and visitors to this website.

How we collect your information

We collect personal information when you give it to us directly—by making a donation, applying to adopt a cat, volunteering, filling in the form on our contact page, or getting in touch by phone, email or post. We also collect limited technical information automatically when you browse this website, which is covered under Cookies and analytics below.

What we collect

  • Your name and title
  • Your postal address, email address and telephone number
  • Your donation history, including amounts, dates and whether the gift was one-off or regular
  • Whether you have made a Gift Aid declaration, and confirmation that you are a UK taxpayer
  • Information you give us in an adoption or volunteering application, including about your household and any existing pets
  • Any messages or correspondence you send us
  • Technical information about your visit to this website, such as pages viewed and approximate location

We do not collect or store your card or bank details. Payments are handled entirely by Stripe and PayPal, and we never see your full card number.

Why we use it, and our lawful basis

  • To process your donation and send you a receipt. Lawful basis: performance of a contract, and our legitimate interest in keeping accurate financial records.
  • To claim Gift Aid. Lawful basis: legal obligation. HMRC requires us to keep Gift Aid declarations and the donation records behind them.
  • To assess and manage an adoption or volunteering application. Lawful basis: legitimate interest in the welfare of the cats in our care.
  • To reply to your enquiry. Lawful basis: legitimate interest.
  • To send you news and appeals by email. Lawful basis: your consent. You can withdraw it at any time.
  • To understand how this website is used and how well our advertising works. Lawful basis: your consent, given through the cookie banner.
  • To meet our legal and regulatory obligations, including to the Charity Commission and HMRC. Lawful basis: legal obligation.

Cookies and website analytics

This website uses cookies. Cookies that are strictly necessary for the site to work are always on. Everything else—analytics and advertising—is off until you agree to it through the banner that appears on your first visit. You can change your mind at any time using the cookie settings icon at the bottom of every page.

When you consent to analytics and advertising cookies, we use:

  • Google Analytics 4, to understand how many people visit the site, which pages they read and how they found us. We do not use it to identify you personally.
  • The Meta pixel, to measure whether our Facebook and Instagram advertising is reaching people and leading to donations.

Our Cookie Policy lists the individual cookies and what each one does.

Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with other organisations for their own marketing. We do use a small number of suppliers who process data on our behalf, under contract and on our instructions:

  • Elementor—hosting for this website
  • GiveWP—the donation forms and donor records
  • Stripe—card and digital wallet payments
  • PayPal—PayPal payments
  • Google—website analytics
  • Meta—advertising measurement
  • CookieYes—recording your cookie choices

We also share information where we have to: with HMRC when we claim Gift Aid, with our accountants and professional advisers, and with regulators or law enforcement where the law requires it. Our own trustees, staff and volunteers see personal information only where they need it to do their job.

Where your information is held

Some of our suppliers, including Google, Meta, Stripe and PayPal, are based outside the United Kingdom or process data outside it. Where that happens, transfers are covered by the safeguards those companies have in place, such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum or an adequacy decision.

How long we keep it

We keep personal information only as long as we need it. In practice that means: Gift Aid declarations and the donation records behind them are kept for at least six years after the end of the tax year they relate to, because HMRC requires it; other financial records are kept for six years; adoption records are kept for the lifetime of the cat, so that we can help if the adopter needs us; and enquiries that come to nothing are deleted within two years. If you ask us to stop contacting you, we keep the minimum needed to honour that request.

Your rights

You have the right to ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, to have it corrected if it is wrong, and in many cases to have it deleted. You can also ask us to restrict how we use it, object to us using it, and ask for it in a portable form. Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details at the top of this page. We will respond within one month.

Your contact preferences

You can tell us how you would like to hear from us, or ask us to stop, at any time—by email, phone or post. If you opt out of our news and appeals we will still send you the things we have to, such as a receipt for a donation or confirmation of an adoption.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please tell us first so that we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK regulator for data protection, at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.

Changes to this policy

We review this policy when anything changes in how we handle personal information, and at least once a year. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.