Cookies policy

A cookie is a small piece of text stored on your computer, phone or whatever you use to surf the Internet. Cookies have many uses but fundamentally they are used to store information about you on your computer.

We encourage you to accept the cookies our website uses as they help us to improve the user experience for you and many others.

We use both session cookies (which expire once you close your web browser) and cookies (which stay on your computer for longer) to provide you with a more personal and interactive experience.

These files are used:

  • to make the website function quickly and efficiently
  • to remember your preferences and permissions
  • to collect information about how you browse the site
  • to enable features from third-party services such as Facebook and Twitter

Cookie preference settings

Necessary cookies

These cookies are required to make the website work smoothly on your computer.

CookieControl

Tells us that you’ve seen the cookie message and clicked on either of the buttons so that it is no longer displayed and saves your chosen cookie setting for next time you visit.

Expires after 3 months.

PHPSESSID

Identifies you as a unique visitor each time you visit the site. The website and forms cannot function properly without this cookie.

Expires after session.

Cookies that measure website usage

We use Google Analytics to collect information about how you use this website. Google Analytics information includes:

  • How you came to the site
  • Which pages you visited
  • How long you spent on each page
  • What links you clicked on

We use this information to check that the site is meeting your needs and to help us make improvements.

We do not use Google Analytics to collect or store personal information, such as your name or email address. Google Analytics data cannot be used to identify you.

Google Analytics places the following cookies on your computer:

_gid

Helps us count how many people visit by tracking if you’ve visited before.

Expires after 24 hours.

_ga

Helps us count how many people visit by tracking if you’ve visited before.

Expires after 2 years.

_gat

Manages the rate at which page view requests are made.

Expires after 1 minute.

Privacy settings

If you change your mind after accepting cookies you can withdraw consent using the ‘Privacy Settings’ button that appears at the bottom right hand corner of all web pages.