Data Protection Review 2024

Click this image to open the form

The purpose of the review is to update parishioner contact details to ensure we comply with Data Protection regulations.

We realise you may well have already provided that information previously but invariably circumstances change – family members come and go, we change our email addresses and get new mobile phones and perhaps even move house. If you’ve joined as a new parishioner in the last few years before COVID then it’s very likely we do not hold sufficient contact information about you and your family.

Our records then get out of date and we fail to comply with data protection regulations. At reasonably frequent intervals we need to ask parishioners to help us ensure that the data we hold is accurate and so we are now launching a Data Protection Review to update the information we hold.

We need to keep contact information about those who are parishioners. We’ll leave it to the individuals to decide whether they wish to be included and if they do, then they’ll have the option to receive the parish bulletin via email (postcard link) each week and be included on our mailing list for other information. 

Where, however, the individual is the nominated gift-aider then we do need to hold the person’s name and postal address to satisfy HMRC requirements.  Even if the individual is not a Catholic or churchgoer and does not want to receive newsletters, we still need to record their contact details for tax purposes.

To comply with the data protection regulations, we also have to ask parishioners if they will allow us to provide their contact information to others. Typically, this would apply where parishioners are members of a group – say, mass readers – who need to be able to get in touch with one another to re-arrange reading dates.  We’ll ask parishioners whether they are willing to share their contact details – but it would only be in these circumstances.

It is also helpful, if you can say which church you usually attend and also include children of pre and/or school age so we have some idea of the numbers of future parishioners and help us plan ahead with regard to the First Holy Communion and Confirmation programmes.

We are offering two ways of giving us the information. You can either click on the image above and provide your information online or you can complete a paper form available here and at the back of church and post it in the box next week.

If you cannot manage either of these options or have further questions, then please contact Deacon Lawrence, the parish administrator, on 01454 412223 or by email at thornbury.christtheking@cliftondiocese.com