On this page you can find out about the cookies we use on our website and what they do.
What are cookies?
Most websites use 'cookies' which are small text files which are stored on your computer. They are often used to store your preferences so the website can provide you with a more tailored experience.
How we use cookies
Cookies help us to improve your experience of our website. For example, they allow us to:
- provide functionality, such as the ability to change the size of the text, or the colour of the text and the background, to suit your preferences
- share video content with you
- remember who you are which helps with filling out forms
- monitor how our website is being used so that we can keep improving it.
There is also a cookie which allows us to administer the website and make changes to the content. These cookies check if you are logged in or not so that the site can display information relevant to you.
In the table below you can find more detailed information about the cookies we use, what they do, how long they will stay on your computer, and what will happen if you decide to block them.
The cookies we use
| Cookie | Name | What if does | How long it stays on your computer | What happens if you opt out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google analytics cookies | __utma __utmb __utmc __utmz | These cookies help us understand how people are using our website. This includes recording how people get to our website, how often they visit and which parts of the site they go to. Collecting this information helps us improve our website and make sure it's meeting your needs. No personal information is collected by these cookies. | 730 days | This won’t affect your experience of our website. However, we’ll be missing out on information which can help us improve our site. |
| ShareThis Seg. ShareThis .com | __stid __uset __utma | These cookies let you share interesting pages on our website via social media channels like Twitter and Facebook. | 102 days/479 days | If you opt out, you will see the ‘Share this’ button on our website, but you will not be able to share content on your social media sites. |
Opting out
By visiting our website, some cookies will already have been stored on your computer. However, you can remove these. You can also change your browser settings to prevent them from being placed on your computer in future. For more information about this, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
Please note that if you choose to opt out of our cookies, this may affect your experience of our site. For example, you may not be able to view some of the content on our site, such as embedded video content. Some of the tools we have included on our site to make it more accessible, such as the text magnifier, won’t work properly for you.
One of the cookies we use on our website is strictly necessary for our site to work. Without it, you won’t be able to use our site.
YouTube cookies
Our website features embedded video content from YouTube using their enhanced privacy mode. This means that YouTube will not place cookies on your computer until you play the video. We are unable to provide a way of blocking third-party cookies. For more information on YouTube’s parent company Google’s privacy policy, please visit http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/policies/privacy/.
Website privacy
You can find more information about how we use and protect your information on our website in our website privacy notice.