Riverside Counselling Service respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.

This notice explains how we collect, use and protect personal information about people who use our services, contact us, volunteer or work with us, and visit our website.

What information do we collect?

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect information such as your name, contact details, information about your circumstances and, where relevant to our therapeutic services, information about your health and wellbeing.

We only collect information that we need for legitimate organisational purposes and to provide and administer our therapeutic services. Riverside is accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and we adhere to their Ethical Guidelines for the Counselling and Psychotherapy Professions.

How do we use your information?

We use personal information to:

· provide and manage our therapeutic services;

· communicate with clients, volunteers, staff and other people who work with us;

· manage our volunteers and staff;

· meet our legal, safeguarding and regulatory responsibilities;

· administer our charity and funding arrangements;

· improve and evaluate our services.

We will only use your information where we have a lawful basis to do so. Where we process health or other special category information, we will ensure that an appropriate additional legal condition applies.

Confidentiality

Counselling information is treated as confidential. There are, however, circumstances where information may need to be shared without consent, for example where there is a serious concern about someone’s safety, a safeguarding concern, or where we are legally required to disclose information.

Further information about confidentiality is provided to counselling clients as part of our counselling service.

Who might we share information with?

Where necessary and lawful, we may share information with our counsellors, supervisors, service providers, funders or relevant statutory or safeguarding organisations. We will inform you as to who your information is shared with. We will not share client information outside of the charity other than where we have sought your consent to do so.

We do not sell personal information.

How long do we keep information?

We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, regulatory and reporting requirements. Our retention periods are set out in our Data Protection Policy.

Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, you have rights relating to your personal information, including rights to access, correct, restrict or object to its use, and in some circumstances to ask us to delete it.

To exercise your rights or ask a question about how we use your information, please email: or call our main office number: 01491 876670

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you are concerned about how we have handled your personal information.

More information

Our Data Protection Policy sets out our approach to protecting personal information and can be requested from

Last updated: October 2026