Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. They are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site. A cookie often contains a unique number which can be used to recognise your device, when a user of this device returns to a website that it has visited before.

How we use cookies

Help for Heroes uses cookies to enhance the online experience of all our visitors. They help us identify which pages and/or products are the most important to our visitors and play a key role in helping us to enhance the usability and performance of our site.

On our Shop website, Help for Heroes operate cookies that allow you to take advantage of different functions. Some of these are essential features such as adding items to your shopping basket or Proceeding to Checkout. Some cookies are necessary to allow you to browse our website, use its features, and access the portal if you register with us.

The use of these cookies is essential for the website to work at its best. For example, we use ‘user-input cookies’ for the duration of a browsing session (a single visit to our site) to keep track of a user’s input when filling in forms that span several pages, so you can navigate between the pages and not have to re-enter data. We promise we will not use these cookies to collect personal information about you.

Functional Cookies

We also use functional cookies to remember choices you’ve made or information you’ve provided, like your username, language, or the region you are in. This means we can tailor your website experience specifically to your preferences. 

The functional cookies we use include

  • User-centric security cookies to recognise repeated failed login attempts or authentication abuses in a limited time period. These cookies are here to help keep our website more secure.
  • Load balancing session cookies are used for the duration to ensure that the site operates effectively when there is increased traffic.
  • User interface customization persistent cookies are used to recognise your computer when it revisits our site and remembers your preferences when you browse our sites. These are used when you access our services, like our portal and shop web pages.
  • Targeting cookies are used on our website to tailor marketing to you and your interests and provide you with a more personalized service in the future. These cookies remember that you visited our website and we may share this information with third-parties, such as advertisers. Although these cookies can track your visits to our website and other sites, they typically cannot personally identify you. Without these cookies, the advertisements that you see may be less relevant and interesting to you.
  • Social plug-in tracking cookies are used by many social networks, like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter etc. We integrate these modules into our website to help provide services to you that you have explicitly requested when you log in/interact with these social networks. These cookies are used for things like advertising, analytics, and/or market research.

Performance Cookies

Performance cookies are used to help us improve your website experience and collect information about how you use our website and how often. These cookies only gather information for statistical purposes and do not gather any information that can personally identify you. The performance cookies we use include:

  • First party analytics cookies - We use these cookies to learn how our website is performing and make relevant improvements to improve your browsing experience. For example, we use these cookies to estimate the number of unique visitors, to improve our website and to detect the most searched for words in search engines that lead to a webpage. These cookies are not used to target you with online marketing.
  • We also use Google Analytics and other third-party analytics providers, such as Hotjar, to help measure how you interact with our website content. These cookies remember what you have done on previous pages and how you’ve interacted with our website. More information on Google Analytics can be found here: Google’s information page. Or if you would like to opt out of Google Analytics, see below.

How you are in control of your cookies

We recommend that you leave cookies turned on.

You have the right to choose whether to accept cookies the first time that you visit our website and you can also control the use of cookies through your browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

How long will cookies remain on my computer or mobile device?

The length of time that a cookie remains on your computer or mobile device depends on whether it is a “persistent” or “session” cookie. Session cookies last until you stop browsing and persistent cookies last until they expire or are deleted. Most of the cookies we use are persistent and will expire between 90 days and two years from the date they are downloaded to your device. See the section below on how to control cookies and for more information on removing them before they expire.

Social Buttons

Our websites may feature embedded ‘share’ buttons to enable users to easily share articles with their friends through a number of popular social networks. These sites may set a cookie when you are also logged in to their service. We do not control these cookies so you should check the third party website for more information.

How to control cookies?

Remember, you have the right to choose whether to accept cookies the first time that you visit our website and you can also control the use of cookies through your browser settings. But please keep in mind that removing or blocking cookies can negatively impact your user experience and parts of our website may no longer be fully accessible.

Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can choose whether or not to accept cookies through your browser controls, often found in your browser's “Tools” or “Preferences” menu. For more information on how to modify your browser settings or how to block, manage or filter cookies can be found in your browser’s help file or through such sites as: www.allaboutcookies.org.

You can opt out of customized ads by visiting: Ads Preference Manager

To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites: Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on

If you use our website without opting out, it means that you understand and agree to data collection for marketing ads to you.

List of Cookies and Consent

Other policies