Last updated: 20 August 2026
Mount Elgon Foundation
(Registered at the UK Charity Commission, no. 1186668)
This cookie policy explains what cookies are, how Mount Elgon Foundation (“we”, “us”, “MEF”) uses them on mountelgonfoundation.org.uk, and how you can control them. This policy should be read alongside our Privacy Notice.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work, work more efficiently, and to provide information to the site owner. Cookies may be “session” cookies (deleted when you close your browser) or “persistent” cookies (which stay on your device for a set period, or until you delete them). They may also be set by us (“first-party”) or by other organisations whose features appear on our pages (“third-party”).
How we use cookies
We only set cookies that are not strictly necessary once you have given your consent, using the cookie banner shown when you first visit our site. You can change your preferences at any time — see “How to control cookies” below. This policy covers cookies set for site visitors; it does not cover cookies used only for logged-in administrators managing the site.
Strictly necessary cookies
These cookies are essential for the website to function properly, for example remembering your form entries, or supporting basic security. They don’t require your consent, but we’ll still tell you about them here.
| Cookie name | Purpose | First/third party | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| wordpress_test_cookie | Checks whether cookies are enabled in the visitor’s browser. | First party (WordPress) | Session |
| wp_lang | Remembers the visitor’s selected language for the WordPress dashboard/site. | First party (WordPress) | Session/short-term |
| __cf_bm | Used by Cloudflare’s Bot Management to help distinguish human visitors from bots, supporting site security. | Third party (Cloudflare, via our hosting/CDN) | 30 minutes |
| cp_challenge | Used to support Captcha/challenge security checks provided as part of our managed hosting. | First party (via our hosting provider) | Session |
| _scc_session | A technical cookie used to maintain a session with our server as part of site security. | First party (mountelgonfoundation.org.uk) | Session (approx. 20 minutes) |
Security / anti-bot cookies (Google reCAPTCHA)
These cookies are set by Google reCAPTCHA, used as part of the security checks on our site (including as part of our TrustedSite trust badge, see above).
| Cookie name | Purpose | First/third party | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| NID | Set by Google, commonly as part of reCAPTCHA/security features; historically also used by Google for ad personalisation. | Third party (Google) | 6 months (typical) |
| __Secure-STRP | Set by Google, associated with reCAPTCHA/security verification. | Third party (Google) | Not yet confirmed |
| SEARCH_SAMESITE | Set by Google, associated with reCAPTCHA/security verification. | Third party (Google) | Not yet confirmed |
Analytics cookies
These cookies help us understand how visitors use our site — for example, which pages are most popular — so we can improve it. We use Google Analytics, delivered through Google Tag Manager and Google’s Site Kit plugin (GA4 property G-VCXE2HQ7JV). Consent Mode is enabled, so these cookies are only set once you accept analytics cookies via our banner; before that, Google may receive limited, cookieless signals used to model aggregate trends, without setting a cookie.
| Cookie name | Purpose | First/third party | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | Used by Google Analytics to distinguish unique visitors, by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. | Third party (Google) | 2 years |
| _ga_VCXE2HQ7JV | Used by Google Analytics to persist session state for our GA4 property. | Third party (Google) | 2 years |
Hosting platform statistics (GoDaddy / 123 Reg)
Our hosting provider, 123 Reg (owned by GoDaddy), sets the following cookies to collect anonymised usage statistics as part of its managed hosting platform.
| Cookie name | Purpose | First/third party | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| _tccl_visit | Set by GoDaddy (our hosting provider, via 123 Reg) to store anonymised visit statistics. | Third party (GoDaddy) | 30 minutes |
| _tccl_visitor | Set by GoDaddy (our hosting provider, via 123 Reg) to store anonymised visitor statistics. | Third party (GoDaddy) | 1 year |
You can find out more about how Google uses data from sites that use its services at:
Functionality cookies
These cookies remember choices you make (such as video playback preferences) to give you a more personalised experience. We don’t currently have any embedded video (e.g. YouTube/Vimeo) on the site, so there’s nothing to list here — this section will need cookie rows added if that changes.
| Cookie name | Purpose | First/third party | Duration |
|---|
Targeting or advertising cookies, and third-party embeds
These cookies are typically set by third-party services embedded in a page, such as advertising platforms, social media buttons, or donation platforms, and may be used to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant ads elsewhere.
Google Ads
Our Google Ads Conversion ID is AW-18214498384.
| Cookie name | Purpose | First/third party | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| _gcl_au | Used by Google Ads (via the Conversion Linker tag) to store and pass conversion information, linking your visit to any ad click that brought you here. | First party (Google) | 90 days |
| IDE | Used by Google/DoubleClick to measure ad performance and show you relevant Google Ads, including remarketing ads based on pages you’ve visited. | Third party (Google) | 13 months |
| test_cookie | Used by Google/DoubleClick to check whether your browser supports cookies. | Third party (Google) | 15 minutes |
TrustedSite trust badge
The TrustedSite trust badge, shown on our Contact page, sets the following cookies.
| Cookie name | Purpose | First/third party | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| trustedsite_visit | Used by the TrustedSite trust badge to record visits, as part of showing a trust/security seal on our site. | Third party (TrustedSite) | Persistent (exact duration not published) |
| trustedsite_tm_float… | Used by the TrustedSite trust badge to manage the display of its floating trust seal widget. | Third party (TrustedSite) | Persistent (exact duration not published) |
Social media share/follow buttons and donation platform embeds
| Cookie name | Purpose | First/third party | Duration |
|---|
You can find out more about how Google and Meta use advertising cookies at:
How to control cookies
When you first visit our site, you’ll be shown a cookie banner where you can accept or reject non-essential cookies. You can change your preferences at any time using the “Cookie settings” link in the site footer.
You can also control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to see what cookies you have and delete them individually, or block cookies from particular or all websites. Note that if you block or delete cookies, some parts of our site may not work as intended. You can find out how to manage cookies on popular browsers at:
Changes to this policy
We may update this cookie policy from time to time, for example if we add new features or cookies to the site. We’ll update the “last updated” date at the top of this page when we do.
Contact us
If you have any questions about this cookie policy, please contact us at admin@mountelgonfoundation.org.uk.