Here at OUTstanding, we are committed to protecting your personal information and making every effort to ensure that your personal information is processed in a fair, open and transparent manner.

We are a "data controller" for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation ("Data Protection Law"). This means that we are responsible for the processing of your personal information.

If you have any queries relating to the above please email : info@outstanding.org.uk

Everything we do is driven by our commitment to ensure that LGBT Veterans unlawfully dismissed or discharged from the UK Armed Forces between 1967 and 2000 receive support and respect. We aim to provide you with communications that are most relevant to your needs—whether that’s through our website, emails, letters, or phone calls. We also want to make sure you receive the best possible experience when you attend an event, become a member of our charity, or make a donation.

We collect information about you in the following ways:

Direct interactions with us:
This may happen when you ask about our work, register for an event, make a donation, request information from us, give feedback via a survey, or apply for a job or volunteer role. It also includes times when you contact us by phone, visit our website, write to us, or meet us in person.

Through our partners or suppliers working on our behalf:
For example, if you use a service such as attend one of our courses, it may be delivered by a trusted organisation acting under our direction.

Through third parties:
This includes situations where you make a donation via platforms like JustGiving or other third-party services we work with.

When you visit our website:
We collect general information such as the pages you visit most often and the services, events, or resources that interest you. We may also track which pages you view when you click on links in our emails. In addition, we use “cookies” to ensure our site functions properly (see ‘Cookies’ below for more details). Wherever possible, we analyse this data anonymously so that individual visitors cannot be identified.

From publicly available sources:
To tailor our communications more effectively to your interests and background, we may also gather information about you from publicly available sources, as well as through third-party subscription services or service providers.

Personal Information

We collect personal details such as your name, date of birth, contact information, and payment details (when making a purchase or donation), along with any information you share in communications with us. This is usually provided when you donate, register for an event, place an order, or otherwise interact with us.

We use this information to:

• Process donations, payments.

• Provide goods, services, or events you request.

• Send important updates about your donation or event

• Comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including verifying major donations.

• Maintain records of your relationship with us.

• Manage volunteering arrangements.

Without this information, we cannot process donations, event sign-ups, or provide requested services.

We may also use your details to:

• Contact you about our work and ways you can support us (see section 8, ‘Marketing’).

• Invite you to take part in surveys or research.

Sensitive Personal Information

If you share personal experiences—such as your own health journey —we may collect health or other sensitive details. This information is always handled with extra care and in line with data protection law. You can choose to remain anonymous, share only with staff, or allow us to publish your story (for example, on our blog).

Sensitive information can include details about health, ethnicity, political opinions, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs. You may provide this through our helplines, online platforms, or other communications.

We use this information only to:

• Respond to your enquiry.

• Train staff and monitor service quality.

• Evaluate and improve our services.

We will not share your details without your consent, except in exceptional circumstances (for example, risk of serious harm, safeguarding children, or urgent safety concerns). If you give clear consent, we may share or publish your story through our platforms or media channels.

IWe may use your personal information with your consent or when necessary to fulfil a contract with you (for example, if you place an order on our website).

We can also process your information under a lawful basis called ‘legitimate interests’. This means we use your data to help Mind achieve its vision of ensuring everyone experiencing a mental health problem receives support and respect. When using this basis, we carefully balance your rights and interests and will not process information if it feels unfair.

Examples of legitimate interest include contacting you about our work, conducting research or data analysis, improving services, handling complaints or legal matters, and complying with Charity Commission guidance.

Cookies
When you first visit our website, we ask for consent to set non-essential cookies. Essential cookies are processed under our legitimate interest. You can withdraw consent by clearing cookies and adjusting preferences.

We may also use similar tools to track email engagement to measure campaign effectiveness, based on legitimate interest.

For more details on cookies, their types, and how to control them, see our Cookies Policy.

We will only contact you by phone, email, or text about our work and ways to support OUTstanding if you have agreed to be contacted through these channels.

If you consent, we may share updates on our work, campaigns, events, fundraising, and ways you can help ensure everyone who served during the ban ( 1967 to 2000) receives support and respect.

If you provide a postal address, we may also contact you by mail unless you opt out.

You can update your preferences or unsubscribe at any time by emailing us or using the unsubscribe link in our communications. Please allow up to 28 days for changes to take effect across all systems.

The personal information we collect is mainly used by the OUTstanding staff and volunteers to support you.

We never sell or share your information for marketing purposes, nor do we sell data about your web activity.

We may share information with trusted partners or suppliers who work on our behalf, always under our instructions. They store data securely, delete it when no longer needed, and use it only for the agreed purpose—such as processing donations, sending information, or managing social media.

We require these partners to comply with Data Protection Laws and maintain proper security.

Legal disclosure: We may share information when required by law, regulation, or to enforce agreements.

We take the protection of your information seriously and have implemented physical, technical, and organisational measures to safeguard it from misuse, loss, or unauthorized access, both on- and offline.

However, no data transmission over the internet is completely secure. While we take every precaution, we cannot guarantee the security of information sent to our website.

Our site may link to other websites. We aim to link only to sites that meet our privacy standards, but we are not responsible for their content or privacy practices. Advertisers or linked sites may collect personal information, which is not covered by this policy.

Any payment card details submitted on our site are securely processed through Stripe, following Payment Card Industry Security Standards.

We only keep it as long as is reasonable and necessary for the relevant activity, which may be to fulfil statutory obligations (for example, the collection of Gift Aid).

Your Rights

You have rights regarding the personal information we hold about you. To exercise any of these rights or make a complaint, contact by email or Complaints can also be made to the Information Commissioner’s Office: https://ico.org.uk.

Your rights include:

• Access: Request a copy of your data, why we use it, who we share it with, retention periods, and automated decision-making. Requests are free and must include ID proof.

• Object: Challenge processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing.

• Consent: Withdraw consent for processing at any time.

• Rectification: Correct or complete inaccurate data.

• Erasure: Request deletion when no longer necessary, consent is withdrawn, or we lack a lawful basis.

• Portability: Receive your data in a structured, electronic format to transfer it elsewhere.

• Restriction: Limit use of your data if erased or contested.

• Automated decisions: You have the right not to be subject to significant automated decisions. Mind does not currently use automated decision-making.

Some rights apply only in specific circumstances; we will explain if a right does not apply.

Your communications with our teams, including phone calls and emails, may be monitored or recorded for training, quality control, and compliance to help us improve our service.

For more information about this policy and how we protect your personal data, contact via email