School Mental Health Ambassadors privacy notice

The School Mental Health Ambassador (SMHA) programme is a Peer Support project which aims to improve the mental health of young people in Waltham Forest using a preventative approach. 

School Mental Health Ambassadors are young people aged 18 to 25 years old. They deliver in-person, one-to-one peer support sessions to school pupils aged 12 and over with mild mental health symptoms. 

All ambassadors have completed DBS checks and peer support training. They receive extensive support from Groundwork London and reflective sessions with child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). 

The Council funds the charity Groundwork London to deliver the project in partnership with secondary schools. Groundwork London collect, process, and retain personal data relating to Ambassadors, young people, and parents in order to provide the service, and for monitoring and evaluation purposes. 

If you have questions regarding this service or our privacy practices, you can contact us by e-mail or in writing at the address below:

Contact us by email

If you have questions regarding the Council’s utilisation of this service or our privacy practices, you can contact us by emailing Public.health@walthamforest.gov.uk

Contact youthteamcompliance@groundwork.org.uk with any questions about how Groundwork London process data for the purposes of this project, or to request copies of relevant privacy statements and consent materials.

Contact us by post

Please write to:

Public Health Team

Waltham Forest Council
Waltham Forest Town Hall
Forest Road
Walthamstow E17 4JF

Please note that face-to-face meetings are by appointment only and can be arranged with the service.

Data is collected and held electronically by the School Mental Health Ambassador service provider, Groundwork London, in accordance with their data protection policies and procedures. You can find out more about these by contacting Groundwork London using the details above.

The Council will only process contract monitoring information, which excludes all identifiable data.

Under UK GDPR rules, the Council (Data controller) is responsible for personal information used in the School Mental Health Ambassador project and Groundwork London (Data processor) helps manage the information.

The Council will only directly process contract monitoring information, which excludes all identifiable data. We need this information for the purpose of monitoring the impact of the project.
 

Participation in this project and the processing of your data is based on your consent. You will be provided with full information about any data processing and asked to provide verbal or written consent before this takes place.   

Young people will be asked for verbal consent to be referred to Groundwork London for School Mental Health Ambassador support, and to the processing of personal data.

Parents and carers will be asked for verbal consent for their child to be referred to Groundwork London for School Mental Health Ambassador support, and to the processing of personal data. Written consent is required from parents/carers of children younger than 13 years old.

School Mental Health Ambassadors will be asked for written consent to the processing of personal data:

• When completing an application form to become an Ambassador
• When providing personal details to Groundwork London if selected as an Ambassador
• If completing a voluntary Recruitment Monitoring Form to help Groundwork London and the London Borough of Waltham Forest to meet their aims and commitments around equality and diversity.

The Council will not share any data collected during your participation in this project.

Groundwork London will work in partnership with schools to deliver the project. They may share information with other services like Family Early Help and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) when necessary to keep children and young people safe. They will follow school safeguarding rules and comply with the law.

Anonymised data will be stored for a minimum of six years and may be used in ethically approved research conducted by partner organisations. Participants are invited to opt in to this when joining the project and are free to choose not to.

The Council will retain the contract monitoring data for the duration of the contract plus six years.

Our Data Protection Officer

Our Data Protection Officer is Mark Hynes, you contact him by email at data.protectionofficer@walthamforest.gov.uk

Protecting your information

Please see the relevant section of the Corporate Privacy Notice.

Your information choice and rights

Please see the relevant section of the Corporate Privacy Notice.

Complaints and contact details

These are included in the relevant section of the Corporate Privacy Notice.

Information Commissioner’s Office

If we’re unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)