Privacy Policy

Pears Atelier, Malvern, Worcestershire

Effective date: 05.11.2026

1. Introduction

At Pears Atelier, we respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information.

We are an independent art atelier based in Malvern, Worcestershire, offering drawing and painting courses for small groups of students, alongside regular life drawing drop-in sessions.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect your personal information when you:

  • Visit our website or contact us.

  • Enquire about or book one of our drawing or painting courses.

  • Attend our art classes, workshops or life drawing sessions.

  • Subscribe to our mailing list or receive updates about events.

  • Interact with us through social media.

We handle your personal information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection legislation, the data controller is:

Business name: Pears Atelier
Business address: Pears Atelier, Wellsprings House, 28-30 Belle Vue Terrace, Malvern WR14 4PZ
Email: mike@pearsatelier.com
Website: pearsatelier.com

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we use your personal information, please contact us using the details above.

3. What Personal Information We Collect

We only collect information that is reasonably necessary to operate our atelier and provide our services.

Depending on how you interact with us, this may include:

Personal and contact information

  • Your name.

  • Email address.

  • Telephone number.

  • Postal address, where required.

Booking and course information

  • Details of the courses, workshops or life drawing sessions you book or attend.

  • Booking dates and attendance records.

  • Payment records and transaction references.

  • Any correspondence relating to your booking or participation.

Additional information

  • Information you choose to share with us about accessibility requirements or adjustments needed to participate in a class.

  • Emergency contact details, if we consider these necessary for a particular activity.

  • Feedback, reviews or comments you provide.

Website and technical information

If you visit our website, we may collect limited technical information, such as your IP address, browser type and information about how you use the website, through cookies or similar technologies where applicable.

We do not routinely collect sensitive personal information. If you voluntarily provide information about a health condition, disability or other matter that may require special consideration, we will only use it where necessary and in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.

4. How We Use Your Personal Information

We use your information for the following purposes:

  • To respond to enquiries and provide information about our courses and events.

  • To manage bookings and reservations for drawing and painting classes.

  • To organise life drawing drop-in sessions and manage attendance.

  • To communicate changes to course dates, times, venues or arrangements.

  • To process payments and maintain appropriate financial records.

  • To provide a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone attending the atelier.

  • To respond to questions, comments or complaints.

  • To send newsletters, course announcements and information about upcoming events where you have agreed to receive them.

  • To meet our legal, accounting and regulatory obligations.

  • To improve our services and the experience we offer to students and visitors.

We will not use your personal information for purposes unrelated to those described in this policy without first providing appropriate information and, where necessary, obtaining your consent.

5. Our Lawful Basis for Processing Your Information

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for collecting and using your personal information.

We generally rely on the following lawful bases:

Contractual necessity

We use your information to manage bookings, process payments, communicate course arrangements and provide the classes or sessions you have booked.

Legitimate interests

We may use your information for the reasonable day-to-day operation of our atelier, such as responding to enquiries, maintaining booking records, managing our relationship with students and improving our services.

We will only rely on legitimate interests where these are not overridden by your rights and interests.

Legal obligation

We may need to retain or disclose certain information to comply with legal, tax, accounting or other regulatory requirements.

Consent

Where required, we will ask for your permission before sending marketing communications or using photographs or other identifiable images of you for promotional purposes.

You can withdraw your consent at any time.

6. Life Drawing Sessions and Privacy

We recognise that life drawing sessions are a particular and important part of our atelier's activities.

We aim to maintain a respectful, professional and comfortable environment for everyone attending these sessions, including models and participants.

In connection with life drawing sessions:

  • We may collect participants' names and contact details where needed to manage bookings or attendance.

  • We do not routinely collect or record information about the artistic work produced during sessions.

  • Participants are expected to respect the privacy and dignity of life models and other attendees.

  • Photography, video recording or audio recording during life drawing sessions is not permitted.

  • We will not use identifiable photographs or recordings of models or participants for marketing or publicity without obtaining appropriate permission.

We do not routinely collect information about the personal lives or identities of life models beyond what is necessary to organise and operate the sessions.

7. Photographs and Marketing

From time to time, we may wish to share photographs of the atelier, artwork, classes, workshops or special events on our website, social media pages or other promotional materials.

We respect the privacy of our students, visitors and models.

We will seek your permission before using identifiable photographs or video footage of you for promotional purposes.

You are under no obligation to agree to being photographed, and refusing permission will not affect your ability to attend our courses or sessions.

Where you have given permission, you can withdraw it at any time by contacting us.

Please note that withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of any use that took place before your consent was withdrawn. We will take reasonable steps to stop future use and remove material from channels we control.

We also ask attendees not to photograph or record other participants or life models without permission.

8. Mailing Lists and Marketing Communications

If you choose to subscribe to our mailing list, we may use your email address to send you:

  • Information about upcoming drawing and painting courses.

  • Details of life drawing sessions and special events.

  • News and updates from the atelier.

  • Occasional offers and announcements.

We will only send electronic marketing communications where we have the necessary permission or another lawful basis under applicable marketing and privacy legislation.

You can unsubscribe at any time by using the unsubscribe link in an email or contacting us directly.

We will not sell or rent our mailing list to third parties.

9. How We Share Your Information

We respect the confidentiality of your personal information and do not sell, rent or trade personal data.

We may share limited information with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our business, including:

  • Payment processing providers, to handle course and session payments.

  • Website hosting and website management providers.

  • Booking or appointment management systems, where used.

  • Email and newsletter providers, where used.

  • Accountants or professional advisers, where necessary.

  • Relevant authorities where we are legally required to do so.

These organisations will only receive information necessary to perform their services or meet their legal obligations.

We do not share student or attendee information with other participants, life models or external organisations for marketing purposes.

10. How We Store and Protect Your Information

We take reasonable and appropriate steps to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.

These measures may include:

  • Password-protected computers and accounts.

  • Secure online booking and payment systems.

  • Limiting access to personal information to those who need it.

  • Keeping paper records in secure storage.

  • Using reputable third-party service providers.

Although we take reasonable precautions, no method of storing or transmitting information electronically is completely secure.

11. How Long We Keep Your Information

We only retain personal information for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

Our general retention approach is:

  • Enquiries: Usually up to 12 months after the last contact, unless the enquiry develops into a booking or ongoing relationship.

  • Course and session booking records: For the duration of your relationship with the atelier and ordinarily up to 2 years afterwards.

  • Financial and transaction records: In accordance with applicable tax and accounting requirements, generally 6 years.

  • Mailing list information: Until you unsubscribe or withdraw your consent.

  • Photographs and promotional material: Until consent is withdrawn or the material is no longer required.

When information is no longer required, we will securely delete or destroy it.

12. Your Data Protection Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have several rights concerning your personal information.

These include:

Right of access: You can ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you.

Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.

Right to erasure: You can ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances.

Right to restrict processing: You can ask us to limit how we use your information in certain circumstances.

Right to data portability: You can request a copy of certain information in a commonly used electronic format.

Right to object: You can object to certain types of processing, including direct marketing.

Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 2.

We will respond to requests in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. In most cases, there is no charge for making a request.

13. Cookies and Website Use

Our website may use cookies or similar technologies to ensure that it functions properly and, where applicable, to understand how visitors use the site.

Cookies are small text files stored on your device.

Where non-essential cookies are used, we will seek your consent where required by law.

You can manage cookie preferences through our website's cookie settings or through your browser settings.

Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect how some parts of our website function.

14. Links to Other Websites

Our website or social media pages may contain links to external websites, including booking platforms, payment providers and social media services.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these external websites.

We recommend reviewing their individual privacy policies before providing personal information.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may occasionally update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our business, the services we provide or applicable legislation.

Any updates will be published on our website, together with the revised effective date.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

16. How to Make a Complaint

If you have any concerns about how we collect, use or protect your personal information, please contact us in the first instance.

We will do our best to investigate and resolve your concerns.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the UK's independent data protection regulator:

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

Website: https://ico.org.uk/
Telephone: 0303 123 1113

You can find information about your data protection rights and how to make a complaint on the ICO website.

Thank you for visiting and supporting Pears Atelier.