Policies

Privacy Policy

Please use this document in conjunction with The General Data Protection Notice.

    • The spoken word

    • Music

    We collect information about you to process your entry to perform in the festival.  Also, to contact you about matters that relate to your performance at The Festival and where you have been awarded a trophy at The Festival. We also collect information about supporters of the festival, for example a volunteer steward, a friend of the festival, sponsors or an advertiser.  There is a legitimate interest in processing your data as part of our work, and it is reasonable to expect that you provide this information to complete this work.

    Information required may include many of the following:

    • Name

    • Address

    • Email address

    • Telephone number

    • Date of birth and age (especially if relevant to the Class entered)

    • Salutation (e.g. Mr, Mrs)

    • Educational establishment

    • Bank Details (especially of Friends)

    • Photographic images.

    Personal information, in full or in part, will be provided to:

    • Printers to enable them to produce the programme of events.

    • Media outlets for promotional purposes.

    • For Performers, your local licensing authority (if requested) to ensure you meet statutory requirements and are eligible to compete.

    The Lincoln Music & Drama Festival will not share your information with third-party organisations for their marketing purposes. Unless you instruct otherwise, we will hold volunteers’ and Friends’ information for a maximum of seven years; and for entrants, for a maximum four years after your last entry; after which time the information will be permanently deleted.

    You have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you. If you would like a copy of some or all of your personal information, please email Anne Webb on annewebb@acousticnations.com

    We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate and up to date and you may ask us to correct or remove information you consider inaccurate.  If you consider The Lincoln Music & Drama Festival has failed in its obligations you have the right to lodge a complaint with the appropriate body, The Information Commissioner www.ico.org.uk

    The Lincoln Music & Drama Festival engages the services of professional photographers throughout the period of the festival and images are available to purchase via the photographer’s website.  Images may also be used for promotional purposes in the form of any media including social media, but the festival will seek your permission before doing so, unless it is as part of a group, in which case permission will be sought from the organisation making the entry.

    Our website may contain links to other websites.  This privacy policy only applies to our website so when you link to other websites you should read their own privacy policies.

    We keep our privacy policy under regular review, and we will place any updates on the web page.

General Data Protection Regulations Notice

    • The Lincoln Music & Drama Festival (“the festival”) is a not-for-profit organisation which provides a facility which enables children and adults to perform musically; that is instrumentally, vocally, chorally, as well as in speech and drama in front of an adjudicator and an audience, to obtain an adjudication of each performance.  The festival is an unincorporated association. The festival is the Data Controller for the personal data of the festival Committee and for information about the performers who participate in The Festival, and supporters of the festival.

      As a Data Controller, the festival is responsible for decisions on the purposes for which your personal data is processed, how the processing is carried out and for ensuring the care of your personal data.

  • Personal data is information that relates to an identifiable living individual.  Identification can be by the information alone or in conjunction with any other information in the Data Controller’s possession or likely to come into such possession.  The processing of personal data is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR, and the Data Protection Act 2018 (we refer to these together as “data protection”)

    The types of personal data the festival holds covers identifying information such as your name, address and contact details (including email and phone number) and information relevant to your membership of the committee or your participation in the festival for example as a performer, part of a performing group, as an applicant, as a supporter or as a volunteer to help produce the festival.

  • The Festival is committed to complying with its obligations under data protection to use your personal data properly and fairly; to keep personal data up to date; to store and destroy it securely; not to collect or retain excessive amounts of personal data; and to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure by ensuring that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal data.

    We use your personal data for the following purposes:

    • To run the festival Committee, for example, by letting members know about meetings or activities and contacting appropriate members where there is an issue that needs addressing between Committee Members.

    • To maintain contact with applicants, entrants and festival volunteers on Festival related matters.

    • To manage our funds through our Honorary Treasurer.

    • To help organise the main event, our annual festival.

    • To effect the management of the awards and trophies where appropriate.

    • To inform the public of news, events and activities where appropriate.

    • To share relevant contact details with your Local Authority as required.

    • To record subscriptions, donations and sponsorships.

    The festival carries out marketing for itself locally in several ways; by use of advertising in its programme for The Festival; by the issue of flyers; and by inserting articles relevant to the festival into the local press and social media.Item description

    • We rely on a few different legal bases for our processing.

    • We process personal data for the purposes of running the festival as described above. This is to carry out activities within the legitimate interests of the festival where we evaluate that they do not cause detriment or damage to the rights and interests of individuals (data subjects).

    • We process personal data for any legal obligations which apply to us, for example dealing with our accounts, HMRC and The Charity Commission.

    • To follow guidance and recommended best practice as required by Law, Government and Regulatory Bodies.

    • With your explicit consent we hold your photograph, taken by our official photographers to be used for the design and publication of the syllabus and programme for the following years’ festivals or for regional competitions where you are invited to attend as a winner of the Lincoln Music & Drama Festival.

    • We do not process “special category personal data” which may be more sensitive, such as information about health.

  • Your personal data will be shared with other members of the festival for purposes connected with The Festival, as described earlier.

    There may be cases where additional disclosures are permitted by law, such as to assist the police to detect crime. We may share your personal data in such cases, however, we will not do so unless we consider it necessary and, as far as possible, will attempt to notify you before doing so.

  • We retain records for as long as is required for the purposes of running the festival.

    Specifically, we retain records of those who are participating in the festival for as long as necessary to run the festival and any further festival-type organisation such as the next regional championship, if that is relevant.

    For those who are working with the festival including members of the committee, volunteers, members of the Friends scheme, sponsors or advertisers, personal data will be kept for as long as is necessary unless specifically requested to delete that data.

  • Subject to an exemption under data protection, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

    • The right to request a copy of your personal data which the festival holds about you.

    • The right to request that the festival corrects any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date.

    To the extent that we are processing based on your consent you have:

    • The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time.

    • The right to “data portability”; that is that the festival provides you with your personal data in a format which can be transmitted to another data controller of another festival.

    You also have several rights to object to processing, these are:

    • The right to object to the festival processing personal data about you. This only applies in certain circumstances.

    • Where there is a dispute in relation to the accuracy of the personal data or about your objection to the processing of your personal data, a restriction will be placed on further processing until the dispute is resolved.

    • In some cases, you may have the right to have your personal data erased from our records, for example where it is no longer necessary for the festival to retain such data.

    • The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

  • If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Data Protection Notice, then we will provide you with a new notice explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions. Where necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing.

  • To exercise all relevant rights, queries of complaints please in the first instance contact Anne Webb on annewebb@acousticnations.com. You can contact the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113 or via email on https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/ or at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AF.

Child Protection Duty

The Lincoln Music & Drama Festival’s Child Protection Policies are included in the Syllabus booklet. 

  • Teachers, parents, guardians and carers are reminded of their roles in the partnership between themselves and the festival, in safeguarding children and vulnerable groups:

  • The Lincoln Music & Drama Festival is committed to promoting the welfare and safety of all children under 18 and vulnerable young people, who take part or just attend, and expect those who are responsible for entering/bringing them to do the same.

  • To achieve this, we expect all teachers to read and comply with the Child Protection Policies (Safeguarding Policy) and tick the appropriate box in the on-line entry system or sign the application form to acknowledge that all their participants have parents’ permission to enter and have been informed of the policies and where to access them.

  • Please note that for the duration of the festival children/ pupils/vulnerable adults must be always supervised including on their arrival at and departure from all venues. This includes supervision throughout all festival venues, performance and public areas.

  • Our festival seeks to support all entrants and needs to know ahead of time if additional support is required to assess needs and prepare for them to be met where possible.

  • We request that all teachers ensure that parents, guardians, carers know the responsibility that lies with them in the successful implementation of the Child Protection Policy.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN BEST PRACTICE BY BEING A PARTNER IN OUR CHILD PROTECTION/ SAFEGUARDING POLICIES.

Child Protection Statement

The Lincoln Music & Drama Festival complies with the British and International Federation of Festivals for Music, Dance and Speech (BIFF) CHILD PROTECTION POLICY STATEMENT. This means we are committed to ensuring safe environments for children and young people and believe that it is always unacceptable for a child or young person to experience abuse of any kind. We recognise our responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children and young people, by a commitment to recommend best practice which protects them.

This policy applies to our staff, adjudicator members, volunteers, students or anyone working on behalf of the festival. It has been drawn up based on relevant law and guidance that seeks to protect children and young people, and its purpose is to set out the overarching principles that guide our approach.

We recognise that:

  • The welfare of the child/young person is paramount

  • All children, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse

  • Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

The purpose of the policy:

  • To provide protection for the children and young people who participate in our festivals.

  • To provide staff and volunteers with guidance on procedures they should adopt if they suspect a child or young person may be experiencing, or be at risk of, harm.

We will seek to safeguard children and young people by:

  • Valuing them, listening to and respecting them.

  • Appointing at least one Festival Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL).

  • Adopting child protection guidelines through procedures and safe working practice for staff and volunteers.

  • Working within the legislation and guidance that specifically addresses the needs of young performers (specifically, the Children and Young People Acts 1933 and 1963, and the Children (Performance and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014.

  • Adopting a safe and balanced approach to the issue of creating and using photography and images of children and young people at our festivals and in our communications.

  • Recruiting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made

  • Sharing information about child protection and safe working practice with children, parents, staff and volunteers.

  • Sharing information about concerns with agencies who need to know and involving parents and children appropriately.

  • Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support and training.

We will review this policy each year in line with NSPCC guidance or sooner considering any changes in legislation or guidance.

Safer Festivals

    1. A single, definitive Child Protection Policy adopted by all Federation Festivals.

    2. One, or more, designated Festival Safeguarding Officers (FSO) appointed for each Federation Festival. The FSO for the Lincoln Music and Drama Festival is Anne Webb who will be available via the Reception Desk on Festival Day.

    3. Best practice advice in the form of Safe Working Practice and Festival Child Protection leaflets, with training for all festival staff and volunteers, including clear reporting procedures for anyone with a concern about a child.

    4. Best practice advice in the form of Safe Working Practice and Festival Child Protection leaflets, with training for all festival staff and volunteers, including clear reporting procedures for anyone with a concern about a child.

    5. Appropriate recruitment and induction procedures for all new festival staff and volunteers responsible for providing safe environments for everyone attending or performing at a Federation Festival.

    6. All festival personnel wear an official badge. All teachers, parents, guardians and carers are asked to report all incidents of any nature to anyone wearing a Lincoln Music & Drama Festival or Southside badge, or to go directly to the Festival Office, if required. All reported incidents will be handled in accordance with the Safe Working Practice and Festival Child Protection best practice advice. In addition, we will ensure the availability of a quiet area/room where concerns can be expressed in private.

    7. For the duration of a festival all teachers, parents, guardians and carers are responsible for the continuous care and supervision of their own children/pupils. If they are unable to attend personally, they must delegate their responsibilities to an identified adult and ensure that their children/pupils are aware of the identity and name of the person responsible for their care. This includes supervision throughout all festival venues, practice and changing areas that may be provided. The festival cannot take responsibility for any property left unattended.

    8. No unauthorised photography, audio or video recording of children and young people is allowed at our festivals. Where parents, guardians or carers do not wish photographs to be taken at all, then the responsible adult attending should ensure that their child is not included in official photographs. There is a section on the entry form for permission for official photographs.

    9. Some children and vulnerable adults may have specific needs to take part. If this is the case we ask the responsible teachers, parents, guardians and carers to contact the festival organisers prior to arrival. The festival actively seeks, wherever possible, to meet these needs but must know beforehand to prepare support, or to advise that help cannot be provided on this occasion. There is a section on the entry form for special needs.

    10. The festival’s ‘Child Protection Policy’ and approach to ‘Creating Safer Festivals for Everyone’ is published explicitly in our syllabus, programme and website. By completing and signing the entry form all parents, guardians, carers and teachers of competitors under 18 (or vulnerable adults of any age) confirm that they give (or have obtained) the necessary consents for the competitors to take part in the festival. Without consent, entry to the festival cannot be accepted.

Cancellation Policy

In the event of a cancellation of the Lincoln Music & Drama Festival, due to circumstances beyond our control, entrants would have the following options:

  1. “Bank” their entry fee, as payment for participation in a future festival.

  2. Donate their entry fee.

  3. Request a refund but allow the festival to keep a portion of the fee (eg. 25%) to help with ongoing costs.

  4. Request a full refund.

Complaints Procedure

  • The Committee values constructive comment which will help to improve the festival and senior members are always willing to discuss concerns on an informal basis. However, we also provide the following procedure to help those people who have a particular complaint to bring to our notice. The Festival Committee will always treat such complaints seriously and sensitively and suggest they are made in accordance with the following procedure:

    First Stage:

    Please report your complaint to a member of the Festival Committee as soon as possible and during the festival. It is hoped that most complaints/ concerns will be resolved quickly and informally. Any complaint relating to an individual should always be regarded as a second stage procedure.

    Second Stage:

    If the complaint cannot be resolved informally then it should be reported by phone call to the Chair or email as soon as possible during or following the festival.

    On receipt of a phone call or email, the Chair will consider and investigate the matter, bring it to the attention of the Committee where appropriate and reply within 28 days following the closure of the festival.

Equal Opportunities Policy

The Constitution of the Lincoln Music & Drama Festival specifically states that the festival is open to anyone who wishes to perform and compete and who meets the requirements of Rule 1. Restrictions as to age or standard in some classes are clearly stated. We ask that if a performer has a disability or special educational need, and requires assistance, they should inform Anne Webb at the time of entry. This is so we can aim to meet the specific needs of that person.