Who we are

The Illuminated River Foundation ("we", "us", "our") is the charitable organisation responsible for the Illuminated River, a unified light installation across central London's bridges. We are the data controller for any personal information collected through this website.
Illuminated River Foundation
15 St James's Place, London SW1A 1NP
Registered Charity No. 1168375
Email: [email protected]

What information we collect

We may collect and process the following personal data:

Contact details — name, email address, postal address
Communications — messages you send us via email or contact forms
Event attendance — details provided when registering for an event
Donations — name, contact and payment details when you make a donation
Applications — information submitted when applying for a job or volunteering role
Survey responses — feedback provided through surveys or competitions
Website usage data — pages visited, time on site, browser type, and device information collected via cookies (see the Cookies section below)

How and why we use your information

We only use your personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so under UK GDPR. The below sets out our purposes and the legal basis for each:

Purpose - Lawful basis

Responding to your enquiries - Legitimate interests

Processing event registrations - Performance of a contract

Processing donations - Performance of a contract; legal obligation (financial records)

Sending you news and updates you have subscribed to - Consent

Considering your job or volunteer application - Pre-contractual steps

Improving our website through analytics - Consent (via cookie preferences)

Complying with legal and regulatory obligations - Legal obligation

Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time , this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing before the withdrawal.

Marketing communications

If you have subscribed to our newsletter or opted in to receive updates, we may contact you with news about the Illuminated River project, events, and fundraising activities.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email we send or unsubscribe here.

Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal data. We may share it with:

Service providers acting on our behalf - including our email platform, donation processor, and website hosting provider who are contractually bound to handle data securely and only as we instruct
Professional advisors, such as accountants and legal advisers, where necessary
Regulatory and legal authorities, where required by law or to protect our legal rights

International data transfers

Some of our service providers (including analytics tools) may process data outside the UK. Where this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with UK GDPR, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or equivalent protections.

How long we keep your data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected:

Newsletter subscribers - until you unsubscribe
Event registrations - up to 2 years after the event
Donation records - 7 years, as required by HMRC and charity law
Job and volunteer applications - 6 months after the recruitment process concludes (or longer if you are appointed)
General correspondence - up to 2 years

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Right of access — to request a copy of the data we hold about you
Right to rectification — to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
Right to erasure — to ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances
Right to restriction — to ask us to limit how we use your data
Right to data portability — to receive your data in a portable format where processing is based on consent or contract
Right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing
Rights related to automated decision-making — we do not make automated decisions with legal or significant effects about individuals

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at please email or write to us at the following address:

Records Management Department
Estate Yard Office
Queen Street
Waddesdon
Buckinghamshire
HP18 0JW

We may ask you to verify your identity before supplying the information. Acceptable forms of ID include:

Photocard driver’s licence
Passport

If subsequently you make a data protection instruction to the Illuminated River Foundation which contradicts a previous instruction (or instructions), then the Illuminated River Foundation will follow your most recent instruction.

How to complain

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please contact us in the first instance at [email protected].

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK's data protection regulator:

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

Cookies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit our website. They help the website function properly and help us understand how visitors use the site.

Strictly necessary cookies

Some cookies are essential for the operation of the website. These cookies enable core functionality such as security, accessibility and basic site features. Because they are necessary for the website to function, they cannot be disabled through our cookie preferences tool.

Analytics cookies

We use Google Analytics to collect information about how visitors use our website, including which pages are visited, how long visitors spend on the site and how they arrived here. This information helps us improve the website and understand how it is being used.

Analytics cookies are only set if you choose to accept them through our cookie consent banner.

Third-party services

Some pages on our website include content or services provided by third parties. These third parties may collect information about your use of their services and may set their own cookies. We do not control these cookies or the information collected by third parties.

YouTube

Some pages include videos hosted on YouTube. We use YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com), which is designed to limit the information collected by YouTube before a visitor chooses to play a video. If you play an embedded video, YouTube may collect information about your interaction with the video and may set cookies on your device.

Mailchimp

If you choose to subscribe to our mailing list, your information will be processed by Mailchimp, our email marketing provider. Mailchimp may use cookies or similar technologies on its own domains in connection with the subscription process. Any such processing is governed by Mailchimp’s own privacy policy.

External websites

Our website contains links to external websites. If you follow these links, those websites may collect information about you and set their own cookies. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites and recommend reviewing their privacy and cookie policies.

You can change your cookie preferences at any time using the Cookie Settings link in the footer of our website.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "last updated" date at the bottom of this page.

This privacy policy was last updated on the 16th June 2026