Terms & Conditions

Terms and conditions, copyright, privacy, administration of donations, privacy, accessibility, credit and copyright statement.

If you are looking for a specific issue, please follow the suggested links below, or contact us

ACN (UK) Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Policy below covers all communications with Aid to the Church in Need but particularly electronic communications: website, email and SMS (website users should read this policy in conjunction with the terms of use of this website below). If you have any queries, please write to: Data Manager, Aid to the Church in Need, 12-14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton SM1 4DA or phone 020 8642 8668 or email: [email protected]

Our Values

Aid to the Church in Need’s core mission, is to support the suffering Church around the world. By providing our benefactors and potential supporter with up-to-date information, analysis, personal testimony and prayer priorities we aim to not only to encourage support for our cause but also to deepen the faith of UK Catholics and Christians and solidarity for their brothers and sisters in Christ.

  • It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate, so please contact us to advise us of any changes.

Use of your data

  • We will only use your personal data for the specific purpose stated at the time we collected it.
  • We will not share or sell your personal information to other charities or organisations for marketing purposes.
  • We will ensure that all data is treated in accordance with the relevant laws relating to privacy.
  • We share your information with authorised third-party suppliers for the purposes of carrying out our work, for example, despatching goods or information by mail. We may on occasion be required by law to pass on your personal data. For example, we would have to pass on information for a Gift Aid audit by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
  • If we find it necessary to transfer, process or store personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA), we will put in place suitable safeguards, including using the European Commission approved standard contractual clauses in data transfer contracts.

Data analysis

  • We only use the information you provide and rely on you to inform us of changes of address and contact details.
  • As good practice we clean our data on a regular basis, of example to remove duplicates and to correct postcodes. This helps us to avoid wastage and use our resources effectively.
  • ACN UK’s Project Country Reports mailed to our benefactors are a vital source of support for Christian communities around the world. By analysing benefactor responses to our communications, we will, from time to time, select groups of benefactors to invite to local events or inform about a specific topic of interest.
  • If you would rather your data was not used for the purposes of data analysis, you can contact us on 020 8642 8668 or via email at [email protected]

Keeping in touch

We keep in touch with benefactors by providing regular mailings which include Project Country Reports, our international Mirror newsletter, product offers, events and prayer and fundraising priorities. For those who choose to, we also keep in touch through our weekly e-newsletter.

Administering Gifts

In gratitude for the prayers and support of our benefactors, Aid to the Church in Need always responds with a Thank You letter. If a donation is enclosed with a coupon or online, a ‘No Acknowledgement’ option can be used if you prefer not to receive a letter to save on administrative costs. Alternatively, please let us know your wishes when enclosing your donation.

Administrative contact

Where necessary we ask benefactors to provide their telephone number for administrative purposes. This is only used if there is a query about a donation or order payment, product availability or to confirm despatch details.

Choose How and When you hear from us.

As a Catholic charity working in a pastoral way, Aid to the Church in Need respects the wishes of our benefactors regarding how and when they want to hear from us.

To amend the frequency of mailings

To amend the number of mailings you receive, please write to Aid to the Church in Need or phone:  020 8642 8668 or outline your wishes at [email protected] . To help us identify your details, please provide your full postal address and postcode or your benefactor ID, if you have it.

When making a purchase, our hard copy and online order forms will give you details of how to change your communication preferences.

To choose what you receive

Some ACN (UK) benefactors prefer only to receive our trading related mailings. Others prefer not to receive mailings which include a trading brochure. To express your preference please write to Aid to the Church in Need or phone:  020 8642 8668 or outline your wishes at [email protected]. To help us identify your details, please provide your full postal address and postcode or your benefactor ID, if you have it.

To stop mailings

You can use the Opt-out box provided in our mailing coupons. Alternatively, please write to Aid to the Church in Need or phone:  020 8642 8668 or write to  [email protected] . To help us correctly identify you, please provide  your full postal address and postcode or your ACN benefactor ID.

Due to timings of mailings and the production process, you may receive one last mailing before they stop completely.

To stop all contact

If you no longer wish to hear from us, please let us know by writing to: Customer Support, Aid to the Church in Need, 12-14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton, Surrey SM1 4DA or phone  020 8642 8668 or write to  [email protected]  Please provide your full postal address and postcode or your ACN benefactor ID. If in future you choose to contact us again, you will be treated as a new benefactor.

Access to your data

  • Access to your information is limited to staff members and authorised third party suppliers who require it to carry out their work.
  • Under the General Data Protection Regulation you have the right to request a free copy of the personal data we hold about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected. If you wish to exercise this right, please contact the Data Manager at Aid to the Church in Need, 12-14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton SM1 4DA.

Under 18s

Young people under the age of 18 need permission from their parents/guardians to sign up to receive information from Aid to the Church in Need.

Complaints

If you have a complaint please address it in writing to National Director, Aid to Church in Need, 12 -1 4 Benhill Avenue, Sutton, Surrey SM1 4DA or phone  020 8642 8668 or write to  [email protected]

Modifications to this Privacy Policy

  • We may update the terms of this policy at any time, so please do check it from time to time. We will notify you about significant changes by placing a prominent notice on our website.

To write to Aid to the Church in Need:

Aid to the Church in Need
12-14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton, Surrey  SM1 4DA

 Fundraising Regulator

  • We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator. This means that we are committed to the highest standards in fundraising, striving to work always in a way that is effective, open and honest, and dedicated to raising funds in the most cost-effective manner.
  • The Fundraising Regulator is an independent body which sets and maintains the standards for charitable fundraising. The board’s primary function is to deal with complaints about fundraising activity from members of the public, allowing people to give to charitable organisations with confidence.

By joining the Fundraising Regulator we have agreed to adhere to the Code of Fundraising Practice and the Fundraising Promise

Terms of Use of this Website

  • By using our Website or any of our services, or providing us with any personal data, you agree to your personal data being used and disclosed in the manner set out in our Privacy Policy .

 Laws governing this Website

  • This Website, including these terms and conditions, shall be governed by English law. The English courts shall have sole jurisdiction over any disputes arising from this Website.

 Protecting your personal financial data

  • We are committed to ensuring that your personal financial data is kept secure.
  • If you use your credit or debit card to donate to us, buy something or make any other payment online, we will ensure that this is done securely and in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
  • We use WorldPay and PayPal to process online transactions for donations and purchases made via this website. We have no access at any time to the card details which you submit online.

 Changing how and when you hear from us

  • From time to time we will send you updates about our work and needs but the choice of how and when you hear from us lies with you.
  • You have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data or to stop us processing it altogether. You also have the right to ask us to stop sending you information.
  • Whenever you make a transaction on our website, we will give you the opportunity to change your communication preferences.
  • You can change your preferences at any time.

 Other information collected from our website

  • We gather data about your visit to this website, such as the date and time of visits to the website and the pages you viewed. This information helps us to learn about your personal interest in our work, which may help us to plan website content. Other website data is used for monitoring and reporting purposes, and to help us to tailor our information and online services.

By accessing this website, you agree to the site terms of use set out here. If you do not agree to them, you should leave the site immediately.

Cookies

  • As is common practice with almost all professional websites, this site uses cookies, which are tiny files that are downloaded to your computer, to improve your experience.
  • You can disable cookies by adjusting the settings on your browser (see your browser Help for how to do this). Be aware that disabling cookies will affect the functionality and features of this and many other websites that you visit. Therefore it is recommended that you do not disable cookies.
  • This website offers e-commerce and payment facilities and some cookies are essential to ensure that your order is remembered between pages so that we can process it properly.
  • When you submit data to us through a form such as those found on contact or comment pages, cookies may be set to remember your user details for future correspondence.
  • We may use cookies to identify whether certain messages have been displayed to you in order to keep the number of such messages displayed to a minimum.

Google Analytics

  • This site uses Google Analytics, which is one of the most widespread and trusted analytics solutions on the web for helping us to understand how you use the site and ways that we can improve your experience. These cookies may track things such as how long you spend on the site and the pages that you visit so we can continue to produce engaging content. For more information on Google Analytics cookies, see the official Google Analytics
  • As we sell products, it is important for us to understand statistics about how many of the visitors to our site actually make a purchase and this is the kind of data that these cookies will track. This means that we can accurately make business predictions that allow us to monitor our advertising and product costs to ensure the best possible price.

Social Media

  • We also use social media buttons and/or plugins on this site that allow you to connect with your social network in various ways. For these to work, social media sites including Facebook and Twitter will set cookies through our site which may be used to enhance your profile on their site or contribute to the data they hold for various purposes outlined in their own privacy policies.
  • Some of the content on our site may be provided by third parties. This includes but is not limited to: Google Maps for interactive mapping, YouTube or Vimeo for hosted video and Flickr for images. When you visit a page containing content from one of these sites a cookie may be set. We do not have any control over these cookies and you should check the relevant third party website for more information about these.

 Social Media, Images and Film

Images and film on our website, our YouTube channel and in our publications are copyright to Aid to the Church in Need unless otherwise stated. Permission for the use of images of young people is sought from schools and other groups, covered by Safeguarding policies.

At ACN events it is made clear that photography may be used for marketing purposes.

ACN may retweet or promote social media posts containing images or film clips issued by parishes, schools, groups and others in support of our work.

Links to other sites

We may provide links on our site to the websites of other companies. We cannot give any assurances that products you purchase from these companies will be of satisfactory quality, and any such warranties are disclaimed by us absolutely. This disclaimer does not affect your statutory rights against the third party seller.

 Your Catholic Legacy

Your Catholic Legacy is a consortium of 26 Catholic charities who have come together to promote the benefits of making a will and to highlight how a gift to a Catholic charity can make a lasting difference.

Information collected through the YCL website is stored securely and ACN only receives details of people who have requested our information.

Modification of terms and conditions

  • We reserve the right to modify or replace these terms and conditions relating to the use of the website without prior warning. The new terms and conditions will be published on this page of the Website. You are advised to check periodically for any changes in the terms and conditions of this Website. If you do not agree to any new terms and conditions, you should leave the site immediately.
  • By continuing to use our website you will be considered to have accepted these changes.


Terms and Conditions of Sale

This page gives the terms and conditions under which ACN Trading Limited sells goods via our website, www.acnuk.org

www.acnuk.org (“the site”) is a website operated by Aid to the Church in Need UK, a registered charity in England and Wales (1097984) and in Scotland (SC040748) and a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Company No. 4747666.

All contracts for the sale of products on our website are entered into with ACN Trading Limited (Company No. 3298216) which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aid to the Church in Need UK. All profits of ACN Trading Limited are transferred to Aid to the Church in Need UK.

Aid to the Church in Need is a Pontifical Foundation of the Catholic Church supporting Christians who are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.

Contact details: Aid to the Church in Need UK and ACN Trading Limited, 12-14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton SM1 4DA Tel: 0345 241 6068 Fax: +44 (0) 20 8661 6293 Email: [email protected]

Ordering goods online

Please follow the site instructions to make your purchases, donations and Mass offerings.

After placing an order, you will receive an email from us acknowledging receipt of your order. Please note that this does not mean that your order has been accepted. Your order constitutes an offer to us to buy products from us. All orders are subject to acceptance by ACN Trading Limited. We will confirm such acceptance to you by sending you an email that confirms that your products will be despatched (the Despatch Confirmation).

The contract between us (Contract) will only be formed when we send you the Despatch Confirmation. The Contract will relate only to those products whose dispatch we have confirmed in the Despatch Confirmation. We will not be obliged to supply any other products which may have been part of your order until the despatch of such products has been confirmed in a separate Despatch Confirmation.

If you wish to cancel a transaction, please see Returns and Cancellations below.

Prices

Where applicable, prices of products on the site include VAT at the current rate but exclude delivery costs, which will be added to the total amount on checkout. ACN Trading Limited’s VAT registration number is 689 5576 55.

The price of any product will be as quoted on the site from time to time, except in cases of obvious error. Prices are liable to change at any time, but changes will not affect orders in respect of which we have already sent you a Despatch Confirmation.

The site contains a large number of Products and it is always possible that, despite our best efforts, some of the products listed on the site may be incorrectly priced. We will normally verify prices as part of our despatch procedures so that, where a product’s correct price is less than our stated price, we will charge the lower amount when despatching the product to you.

If a product’s correct price is higher than the price stated on our site, we will normally, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before despatching the Product, or reject your order and notify you of such rejection. We are under no obligation to provide the product to you at the incorrect (lower) price – even after we have sent you a Despatch Confirmation – if the pricing error is obvious and unmistakable and could have reasonably been recognised by you as a mis-pricing.

Product descriptions and images

ACN Trading Limited endeavours to describe products as accurately as possible, but variations in materials, measurements, colours and designs may occasionally occur. All images are for guidance only and may not be accurately representative of actual products.

Donations

If you also choose to make a donation at the same time as purchasing goods from our online shop, please refer to our information page about the administration of donations.

Payment

Payment must be made with your order and/or donation. The website will prompt you to enter credit or debit card details (MasterCard, Visa Credit, Visa Debit, Visa Electron, JCB, Maestro and American Express). You cannot pay for any goods using a CAF Account, nor can we accept donations using your CAF Account over the internet. If you wish to make a donation using your CAF Account, please call Aid to the Church in Need UK on 020 8642 8668.

Credit/debit card security

Credit/debit card payments are processed by WorldPay. WorldPay uses state-of-the-art security tools and techniques to ensure that you are protected against online fraud. Data storage on WorldPay’s systems, and the communication between WorldPay and the worldwide banking networks, is regularly audited by the banking authorities to ensure a secure transaction environment.

All processing of card data relating to online transactions is handled by WorldPay and at no point will your card data be stored by, or pass through, ACN Trading Limited’s systems.

Despatch

ACN Trading Limited will dispatch orders to anywhere in the world. Our current postage and packaging rates are given in the online order form, and, where applicable, will be automatically added to your shopping basket when you check out.

Shipping costs 

    • UK Standard: £4.99
    • UK First Class: £6.50
    • UK Courier: £12.50
    • Eire/Europe: £12.50
    • Rest of the World: £12.50

For delivery to an address in the UK we offer a range of different delivery services. Some delivery options may only be available if you place your order by telephone.

Please note: Our standard P&P charges are set to help us offset the cost, not only of the postal charge, but also towards the fulfilment and packaging costs of an order – no matter how large or small. As a Charity we endeavour to consider the needs of our benefactors at all times and have judged placing standard rates across all our P&P bands to be the best option.

If you want a single order to be split and goods to be sent to more than one address, you must pay separate postage and packaging for each address. You cannot arrange this over the internet, and should instead call ACN Trading Limited on 020 8642 8668.

Despatch will be by the date set out in the Despatch Confirmation email and will usually be within seven days of receipt of order, but please allow 30 days for receipt of goods. This is a maximum period at our busiest times, but during most of the year we aim to get orders to customers in a much shorter time.

Returns and Cancellations

If you change your mind and decide to cancel all or part of your order, you should notify us in writing within seven working days beginning from the day after you receive the products. To cancel your order, you must return the products to us immediately, in the same condition in which you received them and at your own expense and risk.

We will process the refund due to you as soon as possible and, in any case, within 30 days of the day you have given notice of your cancellation. In this case, we will refund the price of the product in full, including the cost of sending the item to you. However, you will be responsible for the cost of returning the goods to us.

If the goods you receive are faulty or we have sent the wrong goods, we will send you a postage-paid label so that you can return them for either a replacement or a refund. We will examine the returned product and will notify you of your replacement or refund via email within a reasonable period of time.

We will usually process the replacement/refund due to you as soon as possible and, in any case, within 30 days of the day we confirmed to you via email that you were entitled to a replacement/refund for the defective product.

All refunds on defective products will be refunded in full, including a refund of the delivery charges for sending the item to you. We will usually refund any money received from you using the same method you originally used to pay for your purchase. This does not affect your statutory rights.

Risk and Title

The products will be at your risk from the time of delivery. Ownership of the products will only pass to you when we receive full payment of all sums due in respect of the products, including delivery charges.

Import Duty

If you order products from our site for delivery outside the UK, they may be subject to import duties and taxes which are levied when the delivery reaches the specified destination. You will be responsible for payment of any such import duties and taxes. Please note that we have no control over these charges and cannot predict their amount. Please contact your local customs office for further information before placing your order.

Please also note that you must comply with all applicable laws and regulations of the country for which the products are destined. We will not be liable for any breach by you of any such laws.

Our Status

We may provide links on our site to the websites of other companies, whether affiliated with us or not. We cannot give any undertaking that products you purchase from companies to whose website we have provided a link on our site will be of satisfactory quality, and any such warranties are disclaimed by us absolutely. This disclaimer does not affect your statutory rights against the third party seller.

Privacy policy

All and any information you submit via this website will be handled in accordance with Aid to the Church in Need UK’s privacy policy.

Law and Jurisdiction

Contracts for the purchase of products through our site and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) will be governed by English law. Any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with such Contracts or their formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Complaints and Enquiries

If you have cause to complain about the service provided by ACN Trading Limited or Aid to the Church in Need UK, please contact us. We will acknowledge your complaint and undertake to deal with it promptly, fairly and confidentially.

If you need to make an enquiry about your order, or if you would prefer to place your order by telephone, please call 0845 241 6068.

If you need to make an enquiry about your donation, or if you would prefer to make your donation by telephone, please call 020 8642 8668.

Administration of donations

This page provides details of how we handle the donations that you make to Aid to the Church in Need’s work.

When you choose to donate on the site to a specific area of Aid to the Church in Need’s work, we will endeavour to administer your donation according to your wishes. From time to time, when specific projects or areas of work are over-subscribed, it may be necessary to allocate donations to a similar, alternative area of our work.

If you have any concerns about how we administer your donations, please contact us.

All donations are non-refundable.

Acknowledgement of donations

You will receive an email to confirm that we have received your donation. If you have also purchased goods from ACN Trading Limited, your order will also be acknowledged in the same email.

Gift Aid – Tax-efficient giving

If you wish Aid to the Church in Need UK to reclaim tax you have paid on your donation under the UK government’s Gift Aid scheme, you can complete a Gift Aid declaration when you check out from the shop, or you can submit a declaration without making a donation on our Gift Aid page.

You should read the conditions of the declaration carefully before agreeing to it. You will receive an email to confirm that you have completed a Gift Aid declaration for Aid to the Church in Need UK.

Accessibility

Aid to the Church in Need strives to make its services accessible and usable for all users. This page tells you about some of the features of this site. This website has features that allow its users to find the information they need in the way they find easiest. This website has been built to comply with the World Wide Web Consortiums WCAG A standard.

General

This site is built using XHTML and cascading style sheets. This creates a fast loading website that is accessible to screen readers and is usable in most browsers, including older browsers and browsers available on non-Windows systems.

Access Keys

Access keys allow you to navigate between pages of this website using just your keyboard. Most browsers recognise access keys, including Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 (and later) and Netscape Navigator 7.0 (and later).

To use access keys, simultaneously press the ALT key and the letter corresponding to the link you wish to follow (as indicated below), then press the RETURN key. Some browsers may use a different key combination for access keys and you should consult your browser’s help pages for more information.

Personal use of material

You may copy documents from this site for personal use on the condition that you credit Aid to the Church in Need UK as the source, and the copyright holder if applicable. You should not make any modifications to the material.

Some documents, images and materials for which Aid to the Church in Need UK does not own the copyright may sometimes be published on the site. In such instances, Aid to the Church in Need UK has obtained the permission of the copyright owners to do so. Any and all such images remain the copyright property of the relevant copyright owners and must not be copied, reproduced or modified for personal use without their prior written consent. You should request permission from the copyright owners, who will be credited in the applicable item on the website.

Beyond the conditions of this copyright statement, all rights are reserved by Aid to the Church in Need UK.