Our privacy policy

At Helping Hand, we’re committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This Policy explains when and why we collect personal information about people who visit our website, how we use it and how we keep it secure.

 

We may change this Policy from time to time so please check this page occasionally to ensure that you’re happy with any changes. By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this Policy.

 

Any questions regarding this Policy and our privacy practices should be sent by email to accounts@helpinghand.co.uk or by writing to The Helping Hand Company, Bromyard Road, Ledbury, Herefordshire, HR8 1NS. Alternatively, you can telephone 01531 635 678.

 

Who are we?

We’re Helping Hand, a UK based manufacturer of Environment and Postural support products. Helping Hand company number 2172956. The registered address is The Helping Hand Company, Bromyard Road, Ledbury, Herefordshire, HR8 1NS. The Helping Hand Company comprises of Helping Hand, Symmetrikit Postural Care and Symmetrikit Service.

 

How do we collect information from you?

We obtain information about you when you use our website, for example, when you contact us about products and services.

 

We may also obtain personal information by directly interacting with you, such as:

 

  • Meeting with you in our offices, at events or elsewhere,
  • Receiving your instructions to supply goods or services, and in the performance of those goods or services,
  • Logging onto the wi-fi network in our offices,
  • Filling in forms on our website,
  • Participating in discussion boards or other social media functions on our website,
  • Giving us your business card,
  • Entering a competition, promotion or survey organised by us, or otherwise providing us with feedback,
  • Subscribing to our services or publications, or otherwise requesting marketing material to be sent to you, or
  • Corresponding with us by phone, email, letters or otherwise.

 

What type of information is collected from you?

The personal information we collect might include your name, address, email address, IP address, and information regarding what pages are accessed and when.

 

Data Protection Principles

When processing your information, we must comply with the six enforceable principles of good practice. These provide that your personal information must be:

 

  • Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner,
  • Processed for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes,
  • Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary,
  • Accurate and kept up-to-date,
  • Kept for no longer than is necessary, and
  • Processed in a manner than ensures appropriate security.

 

How is your information used?

We may use your information to:

 

  • Process orders that you have submitted;
  • To carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into by you and us;
  • Notify you of changes to our services;
  • Send you communications which you have requested and that may be of interest to you. These may include Information about products, goods and services.
  • Process a job application.

 

We review our retention periods for personal information on a regular basis. We are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory obligations We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, or as long as is set out in any relevant contract you hold with us.

 

Who has access to your information?

We will not sell or rent your information to third parties.

 

We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

 

Your choices

You have a choice about whether or not you wish to receive information from us. If you do not want to receive direct marketing communications from us about our exciting products and services, then you can select your choices by ticking the relevant boxes situated on the form on which we collect your information.

 

We will not contact you for marketing purposes by email, phone or text message unless you have given your prior consent. We will not contact you for marketing purposes by post if you have indicated that you do not wish to be contacted. You can change your marketing preferences at any time by contacting us by email: privacy@helpinghand.co.uk or telephone on 01531 635678.

 

How you can access and update your information

The accuracy of your information is important to us. We’re working on ways to make it easier for you to review and correct the information that we hold about you. In the meantime, if you change email address, or any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, please email us at: @helpinghand.co.uk, or write to us at: The Helping Hand Company, Bromyard Road, Ledbury, Herefordshire, HR8 1NS. Alternatively, you can telephone 01531 635678.

 

You have various legal rights in relation to the information you give us, or which we collect about you, as follows:

 

  • You have a right to access the information we hold about you free-of-charge, together with various information about why and how we are using your information, to whom we may have disclosed that information, from where we originally obtained the information and for how long we will use your information.
  • You have the right to ask us to rectify any information we hold about you that is inaccurate or incomplete.
  • You have the right to ask us to erase the information we hold about you (the ‘right to be forgotten’). Please note that this right can only be exercised in certain circumstances and, if you ask us to erase your information and we are unable to do so, we will explain why not.
  • You have the right to ask us to stop using your information where: (i) the information we hold about you is inaccurate; (ii) we are unlawfully using your information; (iii) we no longer need to use the information; or (iv) we do not have a legitimate reason to use the information. Please note that we may continue to store your information, or use your information for the purpose of legal proceedings or for protecting the rights of any other person.
  • You have the right to ask us to transmit the information we hold about you to another person or company in a structured, commonly-used and machine-readable format. Please note that this right can only be exercised in certain circumstances and, if you ask us to transmit your information and we are unable to do so, we will explain why not.
  • Where we use/store your information because it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, you have the right to object to us using/storing your information. We will stop using/storing your information unless we can demonstrate why we believe we have a legitimate business interest which is more important than your interests, rights and freedoms.
  • Where we use/store your data because you have given us your specific, informed and unambiguous consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
  • You have the right to object to us using/storing your information for direct marketing purposes.

 

Security precautions in place to protect
the loss, misuse or alteration of your information

When you give us personal information, we take steps to ensure that it’s treated securely. Any sensitive information (such as credit or debit card details) is encrypted and protected with the following software 128 Bit encryption on SSL. When you are on a secure page, a lock icon will appear on the bottom of web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer.

 

Non-sensitive details (your email address etc.) are transmitted normally over the Internet, and this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems. Where we have given (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our websites, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.

 

Use of ‘cookies’

Like many other websites, The Helping Hand Company website uses cookies. ‘Cookies’ are small pieces of information sent by an organisation to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow that website to recognise you when you visit. They collect statistical data about your browsing actions and patterns and do not identify you as an individual. For example, we use cookies to store your country preference. This helps us to improve our website and deliver a better more personalised service.

 

It is possible to switch off cookies by setting your browser preferences. For more information on how to switch off cookies on your computer, visit our full cookies policy. Turning cookies of may result in a loss of functionality when using our website.

 

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites run by other organisations. This privacy policy applies only to our website‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you access them using links from our website.

 

In addition, if you linked to our website from a third party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third party site and recommend that you check the policy of that third party site.

 

16 or Under

We are concerned to protect the privacy of children aged 16 or under. If you are aged 16 or under‚ please get your parent/guardian’s permission beforehand whenever you provide us with personal information.

 

Transferring your information outside of Europe

As part of the services offered to you through this website, the information which you provide may be transferred to countries outside the European Union (“EU”). By way of example, this may happen if any of our servers are from time to time located in a country outside of the EU. These countries may not have similar data protection laws to the UK. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing. If we transfer your information outside of the EU in this way, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this Policy.

 

If you use our services while you are outside the EU, your information may be transferred outside the EU in order to provide you with those services.

 

Review of this Policy

We keep this Policy under regular review. This Policy was last updated in February 2018.

 

Cookie Policy

What are cookies?

  • Cookies are widely used tiny pieces of software (files) that are installed on a computer or mobile device when an individual visits a website.
  • Windows Explorer, which is one of the main internet browsers, will usually store these files in a folder called ‘cookies’ in ‘documents and permissions’ on computers running Microsoft Windows.
  • Cookies allow websites to recognise that a user on an individual computer has previously visited the site. The cookies save some information about that user for when they access the site again in the future.
  • By using and browsing The Helping Hand Company website, you consent to cookies being used in accordance with our policy. If you do not consent, you must turn off cookies or refrain from using the site.

 

Most browsers allow you to turn off cookies. To do this, look at the ‘help’ menu on your browser. Switching off cookies may restrict your use of the website and/or delay or affect the way in which it operates.

 

What types of cookies are there?

Broadly, there are 4 types of cookie:

 

  1. Strictly necessary cookies. These are cookies that are essential to make a website work and enable features that users have specifically asked for. These types of cookies are commonly used with shopping baskets or e-billing. Without use of cookies, these features of the website could not operate.
  2. Performance cookies. These cookies collect anonymous information about users for the purpose of assessing the performance of a website. Common uses include well-known web analytics tools such as ‘Google Analytics’.
  3. Functionality cookies. These are cookies that automatically remember choices that users have previously made in order to improve their experience next time they visit a website. For example, where users select their preferred settings and layout.
  4. Targeting or Advertising cookies. These cookies are similar to performance cookies, in that they collect information about users’ behaviour. However, this information is used at individual user level to advertise products and services to users on the basis of the behavioural information collected.