Privacy Policy
Last updated: 24 May 2026
Abbey Action Group is an independent, non-party-political resident and community organisation supporting people affected by major change on the Abbey Estate in Thetford.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect personal information when people contact us, use our website, ask for support, volunteer, attend events, complete forms, or engage with our work.
We aim to handle personal information lawfully, fairly, transparently and only where needed for our community support activities.
1. Who we are
Abbey Action Group is a resident-led community group based around the Abbey Estate in Thetford.
For data protection purposes, Abbey Action Group is responsible for the personal information it collects and uses.
Contact email: info@abbeyactiongroup.co.uk
If this email changes, please use the latest contact details shown on our website.
2. What information we may collect
We may collect personal information when you contact us, complete a form, ask for support, volunteer, attend an event, join a mailing list, or interact with us online.
This may include:
your name
your address or general location
your email address
your phone number
whether you are a tenant, homeowner, private renter, business owner, resident, supporter or volunteer
preferred spoken language
information about how the Abbey Estate proposals may affect you
information you choose to share about your household, family, parking, access, garages, gardens, wellbeing or community
support needs, such as digital access needs, language needs, mobility needs or accessibility needs
volunteering interests or availability
messages, enquiries or comments you send to us
event attendance information
website usage information, where cookies or analytics tools are used
We only ask for information that is relevant to our work and the support we provide.
3. Sensitive information
Sometimes people may choose to share more sensitive information with us, such as information about health, disability, vulnerability, caring responsibilities, language needs, family circumstances, housing concerns, wellbeing, or personal impact.
We will only use this type of information where it is relevant to the support requested or the community issue being raised.
Where appropriate, we will ask for your consent before using sensitive information, especially if it may be included in a case study, resident story, support request, consultation response, appeal representation, funding report or communication with another organisation.
You do not have to share sensitive information with us unless you choose to.
4. How we use your information
We may use personal information to:
respond to enquiries
provide information and resident support
help residents understand the planning and appeal process
help residents prepare personal appeal comments or representations
arrange workshops, events, meetings or drop-in support
contact volunteers
organise door-knocking or community outreach
record community concerns and support needs
improve accessibility and language support
understand the impact of major change on residents and the wider community
produce anonymised summaries, reports or funding updates
send updates where people have asked to receive them
manage safeguarding, welfare or urgent concerns where necessary
maintain records for governance, accountability and funding purposes
improve our website and communications
We will not sell your personal information.
5. Our lawful basis for using personal information
We only use personal information where we have a lawful reason to do so.
Depending on the situation, we may rely on:
Consent - for example, when you sign up for updates, agree to be contacted, agree to volunteer, or choose to share sensitive information.
Legitimate interests - for example, where we need to respond to an enquiry, organise resident support, manage volunteers, record community concerns, or run the group effectively.
Legal obligation - where we are required to keep or share information by law.
Vital interests - in rare cases, where we believe someone is at serious risk of harm and information needs to be shared to protect them.
Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us.
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we will only do this where we believe our community purpose does not override your rights, freedoms or privacy.
6. Who we may share information with
We will only share personal information where necessary, proportionate and appropriate.
This may include sharing information with:
members of the AAG committee or authorised volunteers
residents’ representatives or support volunteers helping with your enquiry
Breckland Council, the Planning Inspectorate, councillors, MPs or other public bodies, where you have asked us to help raise an issue or submit information
funders, where information is anonymised or aggregated unless you have agreed otherwise
safeguarding, emergency or welfare services, if there is a serious concern about safety or harm
website, email, form or data storage providers used to run our website and communications
We will not share your personal information for party-political campaigning.
We will not publish your name, address, story, photo or personal details without your permission.
7. Resident stories, photos and case studies
We may sometimes ask residents if they are willing to share their story, experience, quote, photograph or case study.
We will only use identifiable personal stories, images or quotes where you have agreed to this.
You can ask us to stop using your story, image or quote at any time. We will take reasonable steps to remove it from future use, although we may not always be able to remove material that has already been printed, published, shared by third parties or included in official records.
8. How long we keep information
We only keep personal information for as long as we need it.
As a general guide:
general enquiries may be kept for up to 12 months
resident support records may be kept for up to 3 years
volunteer records may be kept while you are volunteering and for up to 2 years afterwards
event attendance records may be kept for up to 12 months
safeguarding or welfare-related records may be kept for longer where necessary
governance, funding and financial records may be kept for up to 6 years
mailing list information is kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove you
We may keep anonymised information for longer where it helps us understand community needs, report on our work, or support future funding.
9. How we protect your information
We take reasonable steps to keep personal information safe.
This may include:
limiting access to committee members or authorised volunteers who need it
using password-protected systems
avoiding unnecessary collection of sensitive information
keeping records only for as long as needed
using anonymised or aggregated information wherever possible
reviewing who has access to information
asking volunteers and committee members to handle information responsibly
No online system is completely risk-free, but we aim to protect personal information carefully and proportionately.
10. Cookies and website analytics
Our website may use cookies or similar technologies.
Some cookies may be necessary for the website to work properly. Other cookies, such as analytics cookies, help us understand how people use the website so we can improve information and support.
Where required, we will ask for consent before setting non-essential cookies.
You can usually manage or delete cookies through your browser settings.
11. Mailing lists and updates
If you sign up to receive updates from AAG, we will use your contact details to send relevant community information, appeal updates, event information or resident support updates.
You can unsubscribe or ask to be removed from our mailing list at any time by contacting us.
We will not sell or share our mailing list for commercial or party-political purposes.
12. Your rights
You have rights over your personal information.
Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:
ask what personal information we hold about you
ask for a copy of your personal information
ask us to correct inaccurate information
ask us to delete information
ask us to restrict how we use information
object to how we use information
withdraw consent where we rely on consent
complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office
To exercise your rights, please contact:
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with how your data has been handled.
13. Information about children and young people
AAG may support families and hear concerns about the impact of proposals on children and young people.
Where information relates to children, we will take extra care and only collect or use what is necessary.
We will not knowingly publish identifiable information about a child without appropriate permission from a parent or guardian, unless there is a lawful and safeguarding-related reason to act otherwise.
14. Third-party links
Our website may contain links to other websites, such as council pages, government pages, planning documents, funding organisations or community resources.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites. You should read their privacy policies if you choose to use them.
15. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.
The latest version will be published on our website with the date it was last updated.
If we make significant changes to how we use personal information, we will take reasonable steps to make people aware of those changes.