Privacy Notice — Elmete Trinity Benefice

Covering St Peter's, Thorner; St Philip's, Scholes; and All Saints', Barwick in Elmet

Last updated: August 2026

Who we are

The Elmete Trinity Benefice is part of the Diocese of Leeds within the Church of England. This notice explains how we collect, use, and look after personal data when you're part of our church community, attend a service or event, get in touch with us, occasional offices (baptisms, weddings, funerals), or sign up to receive our newsletter.

The data controller for each of our three churches is the Parochial Church Council (PCC), working alongside the Rector. If you have any questions about this notice or how your data is used, you can contact:

Revd Jonathan Brennan, Rector of the Elmete Trinity Benefice
rector@elmetetrinity.org
0113 289 2437

What data we collect

Depending on how you're in touch with us, we may hold:

Contact details — name, email address, postal address, phone number
Church community records — electoral roll entries, attendance at services, membership of groups
Occasional offices records — details relating to baptisms, weddings, and funerals
Giving records — information connected to donations or planned giving, including Gift Aid
Safeguarding information — where relevant to the wellbeing of children or adults at risk
Newsletter sign-up details — name and email address, plus a record of when and how you consented to receive it

We only collect what we genuinely need for the purpose in question, and we don't ask for more than that.

Why we process your data, and on what basis

Where we rely on consent — most notably for the newsletter — you can withdraw it at any time. Every newsletter email includes a straightforward unsubscribe link, and you can also contact us directly to be removed.

Who we share data with

We don't sell or trade your data. We may share it with:

The Diocese of Leeds, where required for governance, safeguarding, or statutory returns
The Church of England's national systems (e.g. electoral roll returns, statistics for mission)
Service providers who help us run the benefice — for example, [email/newsletter platform name] for sending the newsletter, or the Parish Giving Scheme for donations
Statutory bodies, where we're legally required to (e.g. safeguarding referrals)

Where a service provider stores data outside the UK, we check they have appropriate safeguards in place (such as an International Data Transfer Agreement).

How long we keep data

We keep data for as long as it's needed for the purpose it was collected, and in line with Church of England records retention guidance. As a rough guide:

Newsletter contact details: until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove them
Occasional offices records: retained permanently as part of the church's historic registers
Safeguarding records: retained in line with Church of England safeguarding retention requirements
General correspondence: typically no longer than [x years]

Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

Ask what personal data we hold about you, and get a copy of it
Ask us to correct inaccurate data
Ask us to delete your data, where there's no overriding reason for us to keep it
Object to, or ask us to restrict, how we use your data
Withdraw consent at any time (for anything based on consent, such as the newsletter)
Complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you're unhappy with how we've handled your data

To exercise any of these, contact us using the details above. We'll respond within one month.

Making a complaint

If you have a concern about how your data has been handled, please contact [name/role] in the first instance so we can look into it. If you remain unhappy, you can complain to the ICO at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

Changes to this notice

We review this notice from time to time and will update the date above when we do.