Helsby Running Club

Constitution, codes of practice and privacy

Code 1: marshaling

The club subsidises each member each year and this is paid for by the races and events we organise. With this in mind, each active club member is required throughout the year to volunteer at AT LEAST one of our events. Plus in order to have enough volunteers for our big race the Four Villages Half Marathon, any club member entering it must help out either before the race or supply a stand-in volunteer on race day.

Last updated: February 2017
To be reviewed annually at AGM

Code 2: London Marathon places

Each year Helsby Running Club gets allocated some London Marathon places (currently 1). Club members who have entered the London Marathon but are unsuccessful in securing a place through the general ballot can be entered into the draw for these places. Those wishing to be entered into this draw must supply their rejection slips plus there is a further requirement that they must have competed in at least two Border League races in the previous 12 months before the draw (usually held in November).

Last updated: February 2017 (current number of places updated in Oct 19)


To be reviewed annually at AGM

Code 3: social media policy

Helsby Running Club social network sites (including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, etc) should never be used as a medium by which to abuse or criticise club members, other clubs or organisations or other individuals and to do so would be in breach of the British Athletics Codes of Conduct and therefore subject to disciplinary action. See:

England Athletic Social Media Guidance Helsby Running Club – Feb 2017

Helsby Running Club social network sites are to be used as a forum for members and to promote its activities to the wider community. They are set as a closed groups. The nominated administers will only accept members of the club and/or people known by the club and in the running community as members of the group. All members must be aware that pages are visible to all users and should not contain information about young people, vulnerable people or bad language.

Last updated: February 2017
To be reviewed annually at AGM

Code 4: club runs

Helsby Running Club’s policy is that on club runs no one gets left behind. We achieve this by everyone in the group taking responsibility for keeping the group together. Whilst there may be some taking on the roles of leader and tail runner, this does not replace the need for everyone in the group to make sure that the group sticks together. When we have under 18s in the group, one of the adult runners must take on responsibility as the buddy for that runner at the start of the run. Typically to keep a group together, the group should agree at the start some “muster points” where the faster runners either a) turn and run back to the slower runners (preferred) or b) wait for the slower runners (less preferred). This can be applied on all terrain.

Our groups of runners are courteous and respectful of others (eg other people on the path, pavement and road). This may mean slowing down when passing walkers, running in single file, thanking those who move out of the way, etc.

Our runners look after their own and others’ safety. This typically means wearing high viz when visibility is poor, using head torches as appropriate, taking care when running along or crossing roads, etc

Privacy note

Helsby Running Club (the Club) are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. For any personal data you provide for the purposes of your membership, Helsby Running Club is the Data Controller and is responsible for storing and otherwise processing that data in a fair, lawful, secure and transparent way.

What personal data we hold on you

You may give us information about you by filling in forms at an event or online, or by corresponding with us by phone, e-mail or otherwise. This includes information you provide when you register with the Club. The information you give us may include your name, date of birth, address, e-mail address, phone number, name of the England Athletics affiliated Clubs with which you are registered and gender (Athletics Data). We may also ask for relevant health information (e.g. health and disability data to allow the safe running of training sessions etc) which is classed as special category personal data.

Why we need your personal data

The reason we need your Athletics Data is to be able to administer your membership and provide the membership services you are signing up to when you register with the club. Our lawful basis for processing your personal is that we have a contractual obligation to you as a member to provide the services you are registering for.

Reasons we need to process your data include:

For training and competition entry 

  • sharing personal data with club coaches or officials to administer training sessions;
  • sharing personal data with club team managers to enter events;
  • sharing personal data with facility providers to manage access to the track or check delivery standards; and
  • sharing personal data with leagues, county associations and other competition providers for entry in events.

For funding and reporting purposes 

  • sharing anonymised data with a funding partner as a condition of grant funding e.g. Local Authority;
  • analysing anonymised data to monitor club trends; and
  • sending an annual club survey to improve your experience as a club member

For membership and club management 

  • processing of membership forms and payments;
  • sharing data with committee members to provide information about club activities, membership renewals or invitation to social events;
  • club newsletter promoting club activity; and
  • publishing of race and competition results

Marketing and communications (where separate consent is provided) 

  • sending information about promotions and offers from sponsors;
  • sending information about selling club kit, merchandise or fundraising.

On occasion, we may collect personal data from non-members. This information will be stored for 13 weeks after an event and then destroyed securely. Our lawful basis for processing data is consent. Therefore, we will also need explicit consent from non-members to process this data, which we will ask for at the point of collecting it.

The club has the following social media pages: Facebook, Twitter and FlickR. All members are free to join these pages. If you join one of the Social Media pages, please note that provider of the social media platform(s) have their own privacy policies and that the club does not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies.  Please check these policies before you submit any personal data on the club social media pages.

Who we share your personal data with

When you become a member of the Club, you will also automatically be registered as a member of England Athletics Limited. We will provide England Athletics Limited with your Athletics Data which they will use to enable access to the MyAthletics portal. England Athletics Limited will contact you to invite you to sign into and update your MyAthletics portal. You can set and amend your privacy settings from the MyAthletics portal. If you have any questions about the continuing privacy of your personal data when it is shared with England Athletics Limited, please contact dataprotection@englandathletics.org.

When you become a member of the Club, you will automatically become a member of Helsby Community Sports Club. We will provide Helsby Community Sports Club with your Athletics Data in order for them to register you as a member of Helsby Community Sports Club, and manage and administer your membership. If you have any questions about the continuing privacy of your personal data when it is shared with Helsby Community Sports Club, please contact info@helsbysports.co.uk.

The Club does not supply any personal data it holds for this purpose to any other third party. The Club’s data processing requires your personal data to be transferred outside of the UK for the purpose of cloud hosting. Where the Club does transfer your personal data overseas it is with the appropriate safeguards in place to ensure the security of that personal data.

How long we hold your personal data

We will hold your personal data on file for as long as you are a member with us. Athlete data is updated every year on annual membership forms. Any personal data we hold on you will be securely destroyed after five years of inactivity on that member’s account, in line with England Athletics Limited’s retention policy. Your data is not processed for any further purposes other than those detailed in this policy.

Your rights regarding your personal data

As a data subject you may have the right at any time to request access to, rectification or erasure of your personal data; to restrict or object to certain kinds of processing of your personal data, including direct marketing; to the portability of your personal data and to complain to the UK’s data protection supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office about the processing of your personal data.

As a data subject, you are not obliged to share your personal data with the Club. If you choose not to share your personal data with us we may not be able to register or administer your membership.

Last updated: Mar 2021