Privacy Notice
The Friends of Glasgow Botanic Gardens is a charity registered in Scotland (SC022622). We work to comply with all relevant data protection legislation and collect and process only when necessary.
The Friends of Glasgow Botanic Gardens may hold a variety of information on you, depending upon how you interact with us. This notice describes how it may be used, and what the consequences may be for you.
For the purposes of this policy, ‘We’ refers to the trustees (the Committee) of the Friends of Glasgow Botanic Gardens.
Who we collect data from and why
If you are a Member, we may have information on you such as your name, e-mail address and address, payment information or bank details, and contact details for related members if you have a family membership. Most details are stored with Membermojo, who provides membership database services. You can view Membermojo’s privacy policy online at https://membermojo.co.uk/mm/help/privacy.
We will use this information to manage your membership and keep in touch. We may also have other information about you, such as details of additional donations you give us, or attendance at events.
We will only contact you if we have your consent to do so (or if you have registered for an event, that we’re getting in touch about is related to that – called ‘soft opt-in’), or for administering your Friends membership. You can manage your contact preferences on Membermojo.
CPH applicants: We store data on applicants to our Certificate in Practical Horticulture course and access to this information is limited to trustees and contracted course leaders. We use this information to contact you about placements, to manage waitlists and other communications related to the CPH course. We retain and delete this data periodically in accordance with our Data Retention Policy.
CPH students and graduates: For applicants who are accepted onto the CPH course and eventually graduate, we store your data for a longer period of time and share this with Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh, who accredit the course. We may also share some information with Glasgow City Council staff who manage the Gardens for Health & Safety purposes, and rarely, with our insurance provider Zurich Insurance.
CPH graduates are entitled to a year’s membership with the Friends after completing the course, and if you sign up for this membership, we will use your data as described above for Members.
If you are a Trustee, Contractor or Volunteer, we will have information on you which you have given to us, and which we use to help manage the work of the Friends or which is required for regulatory purposes.
This will include your name and contact details, and may also include a variety of other things – like your address, your emergency contact details, details of your hours, education or training, interests, and what activities you contribute to.
In very rare cases we may have information on you which we do not collect from you – this is only likely to be the case in the event that we are going through a mediation, grievance, complaint, or similar process.
We store most of this information for the legal reasons of “Legitimate Interest” – to allow the Friends to comply with regulatory standards, to promote our work, and to administer activities we run (like events, workshops, and courses).
How information will be used
All information you give us will be stored securely – on paper, or on electronic systems.
If we no longer need your information we will delete/destroy it in accordance with our data retention policy unless we have a legal obligation to retain personal information for a certain period.
Who information will be shared with
If you have participated in an event or activity that we deliver with a related organisation (for example, the University of Glasgow or the Glasgow Natural History Society) we may share basic details like your name and email address with them.
In some cases it may be stored with third party providers such as Google, Membermojo, WordPress, or another IT provider, or shared with a professional service provider (like an accountant or other professional advisor).
Where you make purchases or donations, a payment provider may also be responsible for your data – and you should check out their privacy policy to understand how they may use your data.
Rarely, if we had serious concerns about safeguarding, or to prevent crime, dishonesty, or to protect members, volunteers, or those we work with (or if required by law) we may transfer information to a third party including police, a regulator, or other government body.
Question, concerns or complaints
If you have any further questions or comments concerning your privacy, wish to access your personal data held about you, delete, or update information we hold about you, please contact us at info[at]glasgowbotanicgardens.com.
You also have the right to see, update, restrict, object to the use of, or withdraw your data at any time and at no cost. If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please get in touch.
You have the right to lodge a complaint in relation to the processing of your data with the Information Commissioner’s Office, the public body responsible for information rights. More information can be found on their website at https://ico.org.uk.
NB: This policy was adopted by the Committee on 07/10/2025.
