Privacy notice
This notice explains what personal information Christ's Hope UK holds about you, why we hold it, who sees it, how long we keep it, and what you can ask us to do with it.
Who we are
Christ's Hope International UK is a charitable company registered in England and Wales (charity number 1098630, company number 04742271). We work under the name Christ's Hope UK. We are the data controller for the information in this notice, which means we decide how it is used and we are responsible for it.
Our registered office is Allia Future Business Centre, King’s Hedges Road, Cambridge CB4 2HY. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office.
If you have any question about your information, email hello@christshope.uk, call 0300 4000 104, or write to us at the address above.
We are part of the Christ's Hope ministry. Christ's Hope International, based in the United States, runs the Ministry CarePoints in Africa. We raise support for that work in the UK. The two organisations are separate, and this notice covers what we in the UK hold.
What we collect and why
When you send us an enquiry
The form on our website asks for your name and email address, and optionally a phone number, a message, and what your message is about. Some forms also let you say you would rather not receive our newsletter (see "News and updates"). We also record which page you sent it from. The enquiry is saved on our website and emailed to us so that someone can reply.
We use it to answer you and, if you have asked about sponsoring or giving, to follow up on that conversation. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests: you have contacted us and expect a reply.
When you give
Through the giving forms on our website. We collect the amount, whether it is one-off or monthly, and what it is for (for example a CarePoint, or the registration number of the child you sponsor). You then pay on Stripe's secure page, which asks for your name, email address and your card, bank or digital wallet details. Those payment details go straight to Stripe: we never see or store them. Stripe tells us your name, email address and the amount, so that we can record your gift, thank you and, for a monthly gift, let you know if a payment fails or the gift stops. For a monthly gift, Stripe keeps your payment details to take each month's gift; you can change or stop it at any time through the link in your receipt, or by contacting us. Our lawful basis is contract: you have asked us to take a gift. A few gifts are still made through PayPal while we move across; PayPal then collects the payment details instead of Stripe.
Through Stewardship. Stewardship is a separate charity that processes the gift and is responsible for the details you give it. Its own privacy notice explains what it shares with us.
By standing order. Your bank tells us your name, the reference and the amount. If you set it up with us by phone, we also record the contact details you give us.
Gift Aid. If you make a Gift Aid declaration, we keep your name, home address, the declaration with the date you made it, and a record of your gifts, and we send HMRC the details it requires to process our claim. Our lawful basis is legal obligation: HMRC requires us to keep these records. If you make the declaration on our website, we also ask for your email address, so that we can match the declaration to your giving and write to you about it. Our lawful basis for that is legitimate interests.
If you sponsor a child
We keep your name, contact details, how you give, which child you sponsor and our correspondence with you. We use them to look after your sponsorship: sending you updates and letters from your child, and answering your questions. Our lawful basis is contract.
Christ's Hope International keeps the records about the children. We do not send it your name or contact details. See "When you write to your sponsored child" below for the one exception.
Emails and phone calls
When you email us or we speak on the phone, we keep the email or a note of the call alongside your record, so that whoever replies next knows what has already been said. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests.
News and updates
We email you news about the work if you have asked us to: by joining the mailing list on our website, or by telling us. Our lawful basis is consent, and you can withdraw it at any time.
We may also send it if you used a form on our website to ask about sponsoring a child, supporting a CarePoint, giving, or partnering with your church, and did not tick "Please don't send me the newsletter". The law allows a charity to do this when someone has shown an interest in its work, as long as they can say no when they give their details and in every email afterwards. This is the charitable "soft opt-in" in the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, in force since February 2026. We record whether you ticked the box and which wording you saw.
Every email has a link to stop them, and you can also just reply and ask.
We count visits to the online newsletter, but not who made them. You can opt out on your email preferences page.
Using our website
We use Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages people read, so that we can improve the site. We see totals, never individual visitors. Google collects this for us and uses it only to produce our reports: we have switched off Google's data sharing, Google signals and every advertising feature.
It sets two cookies:
| Cookie | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
_ga | Tells one visitor's pages apart from another's, without identifying them | Up to two years |
_ga_5M5RB84TCE | Keeps count of the current visit | Up to two years |
The law allows cookies used only to count visits and improve a website without asking first, as long as we tell you and you can turn them off. To turn them off, choose Cookie settings at the bottom of any page. Google Analytics then stops loading and the two cookies are deleted. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat that as turning them off. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests.
If you arrive from one of our Google ads. We run free adverts through Google Ad Grants. If you come to the site from one, we ask whether we may use a Google cookie to see whether the ad worked. If you agree, Google records that someone who clicked the ad then sent us an enquiry or made a gift (with the amount), so we can tell which adverts help. We do not use it to show you adverts anywhere else, and we do not send Google your name or email address. If you do not agree, or ignore the question, nothing from Google Ads loads. Your answer is remembered on your own device for six months, and you can change it at any time in "Cookie settings". Our lawful basis is consent.
| Cookie | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
_gcl_aw | Remembers which of our ads you clicked, so an enquiry can be matched to it | 90 days |
_gcl_au | Used by Google Ads to measure whether ads lead to enquiries | 90 days |
Apart from these, the site sets no cookies. When you pay, Stripe (or PayPal) sets its own cookies on its payment page, to take the payment and to prevent fraud.
If you are connected with a trust or foundation
When we consider applying to a charitable trust or foundation for a grant, we read what it publishes about itself and what public registers say about it, such as the Charity Commission register: its purposes, its accounts, the grants it has made, and the names and published roles of its trustees and staff. We keep notes of this, and of our contact with the trust, to decide whether and how to apply. We use only information published in a public or professional role. We do not research anyone's personal wealth or private life, and we do not buy information about anyone. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests.
If you claim expenses from us
If you are a member of staff, a volunteer or a trustee and claim back money you have spent for us, we keep your name, email address, phone number and role, what you claimed, your receipts and, for mileage, the journeys. We use them to check and repay your claim. We pay into a bank account you give us by phone, never by email or through our website. Our lawful basis is legal obligation: we must keep these records for our accounts and for HMRC, for six years.
Who we share it with
We do not sell your information, and we do not share it with anyone for their own marketing.
We use these organisations to run the charity. They process your information only on our instructions:
| Service | What it does for us | Where your information is held |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 | Email and documents | European Union |
| Mailgun | Delivers our email newsletter | European Union |
| monday.com | Our supporter records | European Union |
| Krystal Hosting | Hosts our website, including enquiries and donations made on it | United Kingdom |
| Google Analytics | Counts visits to our website | United States, under the UK–US data bridge |
Stripe takes card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Direct Debit payments made through our website. Stripe is responsible for the payment details you give it, and its own privacy notice explains how it uses them. PayPal does the same for gifts made through PayPal.
We also share information when the law requires it, for example with HMRC for Gift Aid.
When you write to your sponsored child
If you send your child a letter or card, we pass it to Christ's Hope International, whose sponsorship system is in the United States, and on to the staff at your child's CarePoint. The CarePoints are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
The letter carries your first name and whatever you have written. The United States system and the countries where CarePoints are based do not have the same data protection laws as the UK. We send your letter because you have asked us to, and it goes only to the people who need it to deliver it. Please do not include your home address, email address, phone number or social media details in a letter. We read every letter before we pass it on, to keep the children safe.
How long we keep it
We keep your personal information for six years after our last contact with you, and then we delete it. Six years is the period HMRC requires us to keep Gift Aid records, and we apply the same rule to everyone.
We keep some information without your name attached so that we can learn from it: for example, the date of an enquiry, what it was about and which page it came from. Once your name and contact details are removed, it no longer identifies you.
Copies in our backups are deleted as those backups expire.
Children's photos and stories
The photos and stories of children on our website and in our materials come from Christ's Hope International and the CarePoints, which hold the consent of each child's parent or guardian. We never publish a child's full name together with the exact place where they live.
Your rights
You have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the information we hold about you
- ask us to correct anything that is wrong
- ask us to delete your information
- ask us to stop or limit how we use it
- object to our using it on the basis of legitimate interests
- withdraw your consent where we rely on it, for example to stop our emails
- ask for your information in a form you can take to another organisation
To use any of these rights, contact us by email, phone or post using the details above. We will reply within one month. There is no charge.
Some requests have limits. For example, if you have made a Gift Aid declaration, we have to keep the records HMRC requires for six years, even if you ask us to delete them.
We do not make decisions about you by automated means.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first and we will try to put it right.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK regulator for data protection: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or 0303 123 1113.
Changes to this notice
When we change this notice, we update the date at the top. If a change affects you significantly, we will tell you directly.