These terms of use apply to the website of the Guild of Mercers’ Scholars (the Guild Website), please read them carefully. The Guild Website is provided by the Guild, a not-for-profit organisation. The Guild Website provides information about the Guild and its activities and other information that may be of interest. We take all reasonable care to ensure that the materials and information on the Guild Website are accurate and complete, however, they are provided for general information purposes only and all liability is excluded in respect of any loss or damage which may arise in connection with the use of, or reliance upon, any materials and information appearing on the Guild Website. Copyright in the pages forming the Guild Website belongs to the Guild, unless otherwise stated. All rights are reserved. We reserve the right to suspend the Guild Website at any time for operational, regulatory, legal or other reasons. Users of the Guild Website may access and use the Guild Website solely for their own personal purposes. Users must not use any content of the Guild Website for any commercial or illegal purpose. Users of the Guild Website are prohibited from transmitting to the Guild Website any unlawful, threatening, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate any law. The Guild Website may provide links to other websites, these are provided for convenience only and do not imply affiliation with or endorsement by the Guild. Selecting any of these links will direct you to a website that is not related in any way to the Guild and the Guild takes no responsibility for the content contained on any other website. If you have any queries or complaints regarding the Guild Website, please contact the Guild at: communications@theguildofmercersscholars.com
It is the policy of the Guild to treat applicants in the same way, regardless of colour, race, nationality, national origins, ethnic origins, religion or belief, religious practices, sex, gender reassignment status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, disability, or age.
The Guild takes its responsibilities as a data controller seriously and is committed to processing personal information in accordance with the law.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or on how the Guild uses personal information please contact communications@theguildofmercersscholars.com.
Any personal information collected, gathered or processed by the Guild is subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy. All personal information is treated with the utmost confidentiality and with appropriate levels of security.
The Guild may collect and hold a range of different information that has been provided to it by you as a Member of the Guild. This allows the Guild to provide a range of activities relating to the running of the Guild, including the maintenance of records and the provision of membership services.
The Guild will not sell, distribute or lease members’ personal information to third parties and will only pass on such personal information where we are required by law to do so. Some processing activity may be carried out by a third party (such as database providers, web developers and event booking platforms) on behalf of the Guild. This is subject to contractual assurances that personal information will be kept securely.
The General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) sets out a number of different legal bases under which an organisation may collect and process your data. The Guild relies on the following legal bases:
In specific situations the Guild will collect and process your information with your consent. The Guild will also make it clear to you what you are consenting to and what information is necessary for which services. The Guild may require your information to pursue its legitimate interests in a way which you might reasonably expect as part of running the Guild and providing services to members and which will not materially impact your rights, freedoms or interests.
Under the GDPR, members have certain rights over your personal information. You can submit a written request (communications@theguildofmercersscholars.com) to exercise any of these rights in accordance with the GDPR. The Guild will endeavour to respond to any such written request as soon as is reasonably practicable and in any event within statutory time limits. The Guild reserves the right to charge a proportionate fee (in accordance with the law) if a request is manifestly excessive or similar to previous requests.
If any of your personal information changes, please make the appropriate amendments to your details in the Members’ Area. You will also have the ability to select who can see your personal details.
The Guild will keep personal information for so long as it has a legitimate interest or legal reason to do so.
The Guild may update this Privacy Policy and encourages its members to review this policy from time to time.
This Privacy Policy was last updated on 23rd July 2019.
The Guild of Mercers’ Scholars (GMS) has a particular and ongoing interest in, and concern for, the care of all of its Apprentices who are the pupils of some of the schools in the Mercers’ Company’s ‘Educational Cluster’ of schools.
The GMS has developed its policies in accordance with the principles established by the Children Acts 1989 and 2004 and in line with government publications: ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ and ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE). It is also informed by ‘What to do if you are worried a child is being abused – advice for practitioners’.
The GMS has appointed a Guildman as its Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and a Deputy (DDSL). They can be contacted on safeguarding@theguildofmercersscholars.com
The Guild’s Officers and its Apprentice Masters will at all times put first the safeguarding and welfare of children and young people.
Should any case of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect be reported to or be suspected by the GMS’s DSL, it will immediately be investigated by the GMS’s DSL for action and appropriate follow up and it will also be reported to the appropriate DSL of the pupil’s (or former pupil’s) School for their investigation and action and appropriate follow up.
The GMS and its DSL and its Deputy DSL will ensure that all prospective Apprentice Masters have first obtained enhanced DBS clearance and are issued with a copy of the GMS’s full Safeguarding Policy and that they undergo suitable induction and training before Binding of any Apprentices still in full time education at School/College.
All of them will do everything within its and their powers to report appropriately, to assist in any relevant investigation, to take appropriate action on any findings that may be reported back to the DSL, and any findings by the professional staff of any of the schools in the Mercers’ educational cluster of schools or by any other relevant competent authority or body.
Copies of the GMS’s full Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is available upon request from the DSL on: safeguarding@theguildofmercersscholars.com