Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes © 2025

TMCP would like to remind managing trustees that it is the time of the year when they should be thinking about submitting their Data Protection Annual Checklist to their Districts.  As with previous years the deadline for submission of the Annual Checklist remains 31st May 2024.

TMCP has always promoted data protection as ‘People Protection’ and there was a really excellent 81% return rate for the 2023 Checklist.  We thank all those managing trustees for their hard work and commitment in completing this once-a-year exercise and in demonstrating their commitment to safeguarding the personal data of all individuals associated with them.

By way of a quick recap the guidance, which should have been shared with you by your District, sets out how the Checklist can be completed in the following ways:

Using the online version of the 2024 Data Protection Annual Checklist:

  1. Your District has a unique link to access the online version of the 2024 Annual Checklist.
  2. You simply need to complete each question before moving onto the next section.  
  3. The results will automatically be sent to your District and be included in the District’s submission to TMCP.

Using the Manual Word version of the 2024 Data Protection Annual Checklist:

  1. For managing trustees who are not able to complete the online version of the Checklist, please complete the Word Document which can be found by following the link along with the associated guidance: Data Protection Annual Checklist and Guidance - Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes (tmcp.org.uk)
  2. Please return the completed Checklist to your District Office.

Your District Data Champion is on hand to help you complete the Annual Checklist. TMCP will also be here to help and assist.  Please do not see this as a daunting task, once you have completed the data mapping and the remainder of the checklist once, then in the following years the Checklists will simply be confirming your continued compliance and commitment to protecting the data which individuals have entrusted the Church to store and process appropriately.  There are some additional resources which may assist you:

This also seems an appropriate time to remind managing trustees of the Data Protection Principles that need to be followed at all times.  These are:

  1. Data must be processed lawfully and in a transparent manner;
  2. Data should be collected for a specific purpose;
  3. Data should be accurate and kept up to date;
  4. Data should not be kept longer than necessary and
  5. Data should be kept securely.

Further, please can all managing trustees ensure that their contact details are correct on the following platforms:

  • Church Treasurer details held with TMCP
  • All office holders on the Online Suite; and
  • Registration with the Charity Commission.

It is important that all the above are notified if you move house, change email address, resign from your post and are no longer a serving managing trustee etc.  Please help the Methodist Church to keep accurate records when contacting you to avoid any delays to correspondence or upset to family members who may receive correspondence from the church once a managing trustee is no longer in post.  

As always, TMCP and your District Data Champion is on hand to assist you with any data protection matter.  If you are unsure who your District Data Champion is, then please ask your District Chair or contact us and we will provide their details. You can also contact TMCP at any time with your data protection queries at dataprotection@tmcp.org.uk
    

Sign up to receive the News Hub alerts to keep a pace with what is available.  Alternatively, please do not hesitate to contact TMCP if you have any general data protection queries and the Conference Office for enquiries relating to safeguarding and complaints and discipline issues.