A Cookie is a text file that downloads and stores information about your visit to the device you are accessing the site from. The details of your previous visit are remembered for the next time you visit the website using that device
Cookies help us improve the performance of the website as it remembers your preferences and we can make tweaks based on visitor behaviour and statistics. We sometimes place cookies on your device which help us serve relevant adverts to you when you visit other websites.
You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.
The categories of cookies we use on the website and the function they perform is listed below.
1. Necessary cookies
These cookies are essential for the website to operate correctly and cannot be disabled without ruining the usability of the website. The law does not require us to ask consent to use these cookies and they will always be placed when you use this website.
2. Analytical/performance cookies.
Analytics cookies are used to gather anonymous data on how visitors use the website.
They look at what pages are the most popular, how long visitors stay on them, if and when a user gets an error message and other similar useful data which we use to improve how the website works and make information easier to find. This data is anonymous and we cannot track you individually using analytics cookies.
3. Functionality cookies
These are used to recognise you when you return to the Website. This enables us to potentially personalise our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).
4. Targeting cookies
These cookies record your visit to the Website, the pages you have visited and the links uou have followed. We may use this information to make the Website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose.
More information about the individual cookies we use, and the purposes for which we use them, are as follows:
Third Party Cookies
Pages on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, social media feeds, maps, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
It’s important for you to know that we have no access to or control over cookies used by these companies or third-party websites. We suggest you check the third-party websites for more information about their cookies and how to manage them.
Google provide information about their cookie and privacy policies including their YouTube service and G+ here http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/policies/privacy/
AddThis provide information about their cookie and privacy policies here http://www.addthis.com/privacy/privacy-policy/
Facebook provide information about their cookie and privacy policies here https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update
Twitter provide information about their cookie and privacy policies here https://twitter.com/en/privacy#update
Blocking / Managing Cookies
You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of the Website.
a few helpful articles on this:
- Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
- Cookie settings in Firefox
- Cookie settings in Chrome
- Cookie settings in Safari web and iOS
If the browser you like to use is not listed above, normally there is a ‘Help’ option on your browser to find out about how it handles cookies, or visit the site you downloaded it from for more information.
Google analytics provide a browser plugin to prevent their analytics cookies being placed https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout or you can use your browser settings to disallow analytics cookies.
AddThis – To opt out of AddThis cookies go to http://www.addthis.com/privacy/opt-out
You can find more information about cookies at www.allaboutcookies.org