CLEFT AI Policy

Last updated August 2025. Next update due February 2026

This policy applies to all individuals associated with CLEFT, including trustees, staff, volunteers, contractors, and partners who use AI tools in the course of their work for the charity.

What is AI?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to computer systems that can perform tasks that usually require human intelligence. This includes things like understanding language, recognising patterns, making decisions, or generating content.

Policy Statement

CLEFT is committed to using Artificial Intelligence (AI) responsibly to support our mission of improving cleft care and cleft-related research in the UK and overseas.

We recognise the potential of AI tools to improve efficiency, enhance communication, and support decision-making. However, we are equally committed to protecting the rights, privacy, and dignity of our supporters, donors, staff, volunteers and other stakeholders. Therefore, we commit to ‘doing no harm’ with AI and protecting individuals’ rights and privacy at every step. We also commit to continuous learning; AI will evolve, and so will our understanding and policies.

Acceptable Use

Staff, trustees and volunteers may use approved AI tools (e.g. OpenAI ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft 365 Copilot, etc.) to streamline work and automate routine tasks. AI is a first-draft assistant, not a final decision-maker. Therefore, AI-generated outputs must be reviewed by a human before use. Data-analysis to support research should be subject to a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA).

Appropriate AI use cases include:

Drafting documents or social media content
Summarising reports
Transcribing and minuting meetings
Analysing non-sensitive data for insights
Generating ideas or translations
Automating repetitive tasks

Prohibited Use

CLEFT will use AI to further its mission and efficiency, not for personal gain or unethical activities. CLEFT will not input private data into AI, let AI communications go out unedited, use AI to make any decision that significantly impacts people (e.g. medical advice, hiring) without human review, and any use of AI that violates laws and agreements, or could damage our reputation. This includes using AI for legal content without expert review, which could put the organisation at legal or reputational risk.

Prohibited uses of AI tools include:

Making automated decisions about individuals, especially involving health or support services
Processing special category personal data without a lawful basis and proper safeguards
Bypassing consent, anonymisation, or ethical research practices
Inputting confidential, identifiable data into public AI systems (e.g. ChatGPT)
Generating or drafting legal wording, disclaimers, contracts, terms and conditions, or any formal legal documentation.

Data Protection and Privacy

To comply with UK GDPR/data protection laws and our confidentiality policy, CLEFT will not input personally identifiable information or confidential/sensitive data (e.g. patient or beneficiary details, health or financial information) into public AI tools. This includes names, contact info, medical details, or anything protected under data privacy laws.

Oversight and Accountability

A designated officer of the Charity is the focal point responsible for oversight of AI use.
Human oversight is required for all decisions influenced by AI
Staff must document significant use of AI in project documentation, using the following wording:

‘AI was used to generate content for this document. All outputs are reviewed extensively by staff before use. Our organisation uses AI-based tools to enhance efficiency and quality in content generation. These tools are not used to process personal or sensitive data unless explicitly approved.’

Environmental Impact

While artificial intelligence offers valuable benefits to our organisation, we recognise that AI technologies also carry an environmental footprint, particularly due to the high energy demands of training and operating large-scale models. Where possible, we will prioritise low-impact usage and consider whether AI use is necessary. We will remain informed about the evolving environmental implications of digital technologies.

Awareness and Support

Staff, trustees and volunteers will be given full guidance on safe, ethical AI use
Any concerns about bias, error, or inappropriate use of AI must be reported to the charity ([email protected])

Policy Compliance

Non-compliance may result in restricted access or disciplinary action, as misuse of AI can pose serious legal and reputational risks. Non-compliance by volunteers for CLEFT-related work may result in an end to their involvement with CLEFT.

Measuring Impact and Policy Review

CLEFT will regularly assess AI’s effectiveness and adjust strategies and policies accordingly.

CLEFT will review and update this policy at least annually or as needed to keep pace with evolving AI technology. Our leadership is committed to responsible AI adoption: we will support innovation (e.g. piloting useful AI tools) while enforcing necessary guardrails and ethical standards to uphold trust.

Download CLEFT's AI Policy document by clicking here

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Keeping In Touch

In addition to contacting you with administration information such as when setting up a gift or volunteering, we'd love to keep you posted with our news, activities and how you can help in other ways.We'll never sell or swap your details with anybody else.

For more information see our privacy policy.

We'd love to keep you posted with our news, activities and how you can help in other ways. We'll never sell or swap your details with anybody else. You are free to change your mind at anytime. Please indicate how you would like to hear from us by using the tick boxes below

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Your Privacy

We will always store your personal details securely. We'll use them to provide the service that you have requested, and communicate with you in the way(s) that you have agreed to. Your data may also be used for analysis purposes, to help us provide the best service possible. For full details see our Privacy Policy or contact us on 01245 421901.

By submitting this form you are agreeing to our terms and conditions

Privacy Policy
At CLEFT, we’re committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Policy explains when and why we collect personal information about people who contact us, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how we keep it secure.
We may change this Policy from time to time so please check this page occasionally to ensure that you’re happy with any changes. By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this Policy.

Any questions regarding this Policy and our privacy practices should be sent by email to [email protected] or by writing to CLEFT, 10a Warren Estate, Lordship Road, Writtle, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 3WT. Alternatively, you can telephone 01245 421901.

Who are we?
We are CLEFT, we support cleft lip and palate teams in poorer countries by working with local surgeons and other specialists to help them develop high quality multidisciplinary cleft centres. We do this by visiting and working with them regularly, helping to provide education and training and donating much needed equipment. Our goal is to help local teams so that children born with clefts in these countries will have the same opportunities as those in the UK.

CLEFT also supports research in the UK which will potentially benefit the much greater number of cleft lip and palate patients in countries other than the UK. Our research projects include a pilot project to develop techniques for 3-D MRI scanning of the palate, a study of the muscles of the soft palate to try to improve the quality of the surgery as well as investigating submucous cleft palate development and therapy.

CLEFT is a registered charity (no. 1119630). The registered address is CLEFT, 10a Warren Estate, Lordship Road, Writtle, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 3WT.

How do we collect information from you?
We may obtain information about you when you contact us about what CLEFT does, register for one of our events, to make a donation or if you register to receive one of our newsletters.

What type of information is collected from you?
The personal information we collect might include your name, address, email address, phone number, and birth date. If you make a donation online or by phone, your card information is not held by us, it is collected by our third party payment processors, who specialise in the secure online capture and processing of credit/debit card transactions, as explained below.

How is your information used?
We may use your information to:
• process a donation that you have made;
• to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into by you and us;
• seek your views or comments on the services we provide;
• notify you of changes to our services;
• send you communications which you have requested and that may be of interest to you. These may include information about campaigns, appeals, other fundraising activities;
• process a grant or job application.

We review our retention periods for personal information on a regular basis. We are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory obligations (for example the collection of Gift Aid). We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, or as long as is set out in any relevant contract you hold with us.

Who has access to your information?
We will not sell or rent your information to third parties.
We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

Third Party Service Providers working on our behalf: We may pass your information to our third party service providers, agents subcontractors and other associated organisations for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you on our behalf (for example to process donations and send you mailings). However, when we use third party service providers, we disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the service and we have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for their own direct marketing purposes. Please be reassured that we will not release your information to third parties beyond the CLEFT Network for them to use for their own direct marketing purposes, unless you have requested us to do so, or we are required to do so by law, for example, by a court order or for the purposes of prevention of fraud or other crime.

Third Party Product Providers we work in association with: When you are using our secure online donation pages, your donation is processed by a third party payment processor, who specialises in the secure online capture and processing of credit/debit card transactions. If you have any questions regarding secure transactions, please contact us.

Your choices
You have a choice about whether or not you wish to receive information from us. If you do not want to receive direct marketing communications from us about the vital work we do in other countries and our research here in the UK then you can select your choices by ticking the relevant boxes situated on the form on which we collect your information.

We will not contact you for marketing purposes by email, phone or text message unless you have given your prior consent. We will not contact you for marketing purposes by post if you have indicated that you do not wish to be contacted. You can change your marketing preferences at any time by contacting us by email: [email protected] or telephone on 01245 421901.

How you can access and update your information
The accuracy of your information is important to us. We’re working on ways to make it easier for you to review and correct the information that we hold about you. In the meantime, if you change email address, or any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, please email us at: [email protected], or write to us at: CLEFT, 10a Warren Estate, Lordship Road, Writtle, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 3WT. Alternatively, you can telephone 01245 421901.
You have the right to ask for a copy of the information CLEFT hold about you.

Security precautions in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of your information
Non-sensitive details (your email address etc.) are transmitted normally over the Internet, and this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems.

Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites run by other organisations. This privacy policy applies only to our website‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you access them using links from our website.

In addition, if you linked to our website from a third party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third party site and recommend that you check the policy of that third party site.

16 or Under
We are concerned to protect the privacy of children aged 16 or under. If you are aged 16 or under‚ please get your parent/guardian’s permission beforehand whenever you provide us with personal information.

Review of this Policy
We keep this Policy under regular review.

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Latest

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I am raising money to provide long-term, sustainable ways to improve cleft care both in the UK and overseas.
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LF1 Cleft Charity

We are raising money with the LF1 division of the Cleft Charity at Charles University, Prague, to support sustainable, long-term improvements in cleft care. Through fundraising and awareness initiatives at LF1, we aim to contribute to the main UK Cleft Charity’s mission of improving access to cleft treatment, multidisciplinary care, and support services for patients and families both in the UK and internationally.

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This policy outlines CLEFT's commitment to encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion among our workforce, and eliminating unlawful discrimination. We aim to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customers, and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best.
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This policy outlines CLEFT’s commitment to preventing and addressing bullying and harassment in accordance with Charity Commission guidelines and UK employment and equality laws.
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This policy outlines what CLEFT does to understand and minimise the potential risk of modern slavery in its charity and supply chains. CLEFT is committed to the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the abolition of modern slavery and human trafficking.
Conflicts of Interest Policy

All CLEFT's trustees, staff, volunteers and committee members want to avoid any conflict of interest between the interests of the charity and personal, professional and business interests. This includes avoiding actual conflicts of interest as well as the perception of conflicts of interest.
Volunteering Policy

Here at CLEFT, we are so grateful for all the time and effort our volunteers give. Our Volunteering Policy lays out the expectations and has been created to protect both the volunteer and CLEFT. It is available here to view and download.
Safeguarding Policy

Although CLEFT does not work directly with cleft patients, safeguarding is still a priority at every level and we take this responsibility very seriously. Our safeguarding policy is available to view and to download.
Complaints Policy

We hope that no one will need or want to raise a complaint however, the CLEFT complaints policy and information on how to raise a complaint are available here to view and download.

Donate to CLEFT

You can make a one-off donation today or sign up to giving a regular monthly gift. All donations, small or large, will help us to improve the lives of those born with cleft lip and palate both now and in the future.
National Institute of Burns and Plastic Surgery

We are working with Bangladeshi specialists at the new National Institute of Burns and Plastic Surgery to create a sustainable centre to treat children with cleft lip and palate.
Our mission

CLEFT was established in 2007 with one aim, to help improve the lives of children born with cleft lip and palate, either by funding research into the likely causes of the condition or by helping support teams in lower and middle income countries.
Nawrin and the C-Arm

This important piece of equipment was supplied by CLEFT and is used to see moving images of the cleft palate. Nawrin is a 13 year old girl who was experiencing speech difficulties and needed the C-Arm to show the cleft team if further surgery was required.
About us

CLEFT was established in 2007 by cleft surgeon Brian Sommerlad - based at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, together with a former patient and a patient's grandmother.
The genetics of cleft lip and palate

Investigations into the genetics of cleft lip and palate to understand more about why cleft lip and palate occurs.
Brian Sommerlad, Consultant Plastic Surgeon and Chair of Trustees

For over 40 years, I have been involved in operating on babies, children and adults who have been born with cleft lip and/or palate.
Our research vision

At CLEFT, our vision is of a future where clefts are preventable. Until we get there, we want to improve the lives of those born with cleft lip and palate.
Trusts and Foundations

Today, 1-in-700 babies in the UK are born with a cleft lip and palate, the most common form of birth defect. The impact on a child’s life as they grow is profound. Typically, they will need at least four operations. They may also require ongoing tests, treatment or therapy. It will affect the way they look but also their speech, hearing and dental development. It can leave deep psychological scars.
Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY