At Fire Fighters Charity, we are committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about how we use your data. Like most websites, we use cookies and similar technologies like scripts and tracking pixels to ensure our website (firefighterscharity.org.uk) runs smoothly, to securely process your enquiries, donations and shop purchases, and to help us improve our services.
Fire Fighters Charity also owns and runs various websites for other campaigns and activities. This Cookie Notice applies across all these websites:
donate.firefighterscharity.org.uk
shop.firefighterscharity.org.uk
lottery.firefighterscharity.org.uk
raffle.firefighterscharity.org.uk
firefighters.charitypayments.co.uk
myffc.firefighterscharity.org.uk
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer, smartphone, or tablet when you visit a website. They allow the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login details, preferences, or what is in your shopping basket) over a period of time. We also use similar technologies, such as third-party tracking scripts, to help us understand how visitors use our site.
Pixels, tags and other similar technologies
Pixels, tags and similar technologies are used alongside cookies on our site. These are used for similar purposes to cookies, for example to track activity on our website and to target advertising on third party websites. When we use the term ‘cookies’ this includes pixels, tags and other similar technologies.
How we use cookies
We use cookies to:
- Ensure our website functions correctly and securely.
- Remember your cookie consent preferences.
- Process secure payments for donations, lotteries, and shop purchases.
- Understand how supporters interact with our website so we can improve it.
- Show you relevant advertising on other websites and social media platforms to help raise vital funds.
Cookie Duration
Cookies can remain on your device for different periods of time. Some are ‘session cookies’, meaning they exist only while your browser is open and are deleted automatically once you close it. Others are ‘persistent cookies’, which survive after your browser is closed and can be used by websites to recognise your device when you open your browser again. You can view the exact lifespan of every cookie we use by clicking the manage cookies button and viewing the services tab for details on each of the listed services.
Categories of cookies we use
We have grouped the cookies and scripts used on our website into four main categories based on their purpose. You can choose to accept or decline the functional, marketing and analytics cookies.
Essential Cookies (required)
These cookies are essential for our website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you, such as setting your privacy preferences, filling in forms, or making a secure payment.
| Service | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Braintree | Payment processing gateways used to securely handle online transactions and checkouts. |
| Cardinal Commerce | A payment security service that handles 3D Secure authentication to prevent fraudulent transactions. |
| gstatic.com | This is a domain used by Google to off-load static content to a different domain name in an effort to reduce bandwidth usage and increase network performance for the end user. |
| Lottery Assets | Specific assets from our lottery provider (Sterling Lotteries) loaded to support a charity lottery widget or feature on the website. |
| Postcode Anywhere (Loqate) | An address lookup and validation tool that auto-fills your address when you type your postcode during checkout or form submission. |
| Usercentrics Consent Management | This is the tool the website uses to ask for, manage, and record your cookie consent preferences to comply with privacy laws like the GDPR. |
| WordPress Assets | Core files required by WordPress to display standard features and site media. |
Functional Cookies (optional)
These cookies allow us to provide enhanced functionality, security, and performance. If you do not allow these cookies, some parts of the site (like embedded videos) may not function properly, or the site may load more slowly.
| Service | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Adobe Fonts & Google Fonts | Custom web fonts that allow the website to display its chosen typography consistently across all browsers and devices. |
| Cloudflare | A security and performance service that protects the site from malicious attacks (like DDoS) and uses a global network to load the site faster for users. |
| Google Pay | Integrated to handle specific Google Pay functionalities during checkout. |
| Google Tag Manager | A central management tool that allows the website owner to easily add, update, or remove other tracking scripts and tools without altering the site’s core code. |
| jQuery | A widely used JavaScript library that helps developers easily create interactive elements, animations, and dynamic content on the page. |
| NitroPack | A performance optimization service that speeds up website loading times by compressing images, minifying code, and caching pages. |
| PayPal | Payment processing gateways used to securely handle online transactions and checkouts. |
| reCAPTCHA | A security tool by Google designed to protect the website’s forms from spam and automated bots. |
| Shopify CDN | The Content Delivery Network for Shopify, used to quickly load e-commerce assets like product images and styling. |
| Vimeo | The video player script required to embed and play Vimeo videos directly on the website. |
Analytics Cookies (optional)
These cookies help us understand how supporters interact with our website. By collecting and reporting information anonymously, these tools allow us to measure site traffic, identify any broken pages, and continuously improve the user experience.
| Service | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Google Analytics | Tracks anonymous website traffic and user behaviour to help us measure site performance and improve our content. |
| Acquia | Acquia is a tool we use to improve website accessibility and user experience. It collects anonymised data such as time and duration of visit, browser, operating system, screen size, and anonymised IP address. |
| Shopify Analytics | Measures visitor traffic and shopping behaviour within our online store to help us improve performance and sales. |
Marketing Cookies (optional)
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising and social media partners. They are used to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts for our fundraising campaigns or shop items on other websites. They do not store personal information directly, but they uniquely identify your browser and internet device.
| Service | Purpose |
|---|---|
| DoubleClick Ad & Google Ads | Google’s advertising platforms. These scripts track user behaviour to serve personalized ads across the internet and measure how well those ad campaigns are performing. |
| Facebook Pixel | An analytics tool that tracks what users do on the website after clicking a Facebook ad, helping us measure ad success and build targeted audiences. |
| Facebook Social Plugins | The code that allows the site to embed Facebook features, such as “Like” or “Share” buttons, which can also track users across the web. |
| Shopify Marketing & Widgets | Various tools including internal data collection for store analytics, scripts to power customer product reviews (Judge.me), and features to manage secure sessions for accelerated checkouts (Shop Pay). |
First-Party Cookies
First party cookies are those owned and set by Fire Fighters Charity websites to recognize returning visitors and remember their preferences.
Third-Party Cookies
When you visit our website, you may notice some cookies that are not related to Fire Fighters Charity. For example, if you visit a page with an embedded video from Vimeo, or click “Share” via Facebook, these third-party websites may place their own cookies on your device. We do not control how these third parties use their cookies, so we suggest you check their respective websites for more information about their policies.
Other Security Technologies: Forms & IP Addresses
While not a cookie, we want to be fully transparent about other ways we ensure the security of our website. When you submit a form on our website your IP address is captured alongside your entry.
This is a standard security measure processed under our legitimate interest to protect our digital infrastructure. Capturing this IP address allows us to prevent automated bot attacks, protect the charity against fraudulent submissions, and block malicious users. For more detailed information on how we collect and protect your personal data, please refer to our full privacy policy.
How to manage your cookies
You are in control of your data. When you first visit our website, you will be shown a pop-up notice powered by our consent partner, Usercentrics. This allows you to choose which cookie categories to accept.
Changing your mind on our website
You can change your cookie preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by clicking the manage cookies button displayed as a red cog in the bottom corner of your screen.
Changing your browser settings
You can also manage cookies directly through your web browser settings. Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and to delete them. Please note that if you disable essential cookies via your browser, you may not be able to make a donation or use our online shop.
- How to manage cookies in Chrome
- How to manage cookies in Safari
- How to manage cookies in Edge
- How to manage cookies in Firefox
- How to manage cookies in Opera
International Data Transfers
Please note that some of the third-party providers we use (such as Google, Facebook, and Shopify) are based outside of the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA). This means that information collected via their cookies may be transferred to and processed in countries like the United States. We ensure that any such transfers are carried out in compliance with UK data protection laws, usually relying on the provider’s adherence to approved data transfer frameworks or standard contractual clauses.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this cookie notice or how we handle your data, please read our full privacy policy or contact our team.