Last updated: 21 October 2026

Who we are

Amble connects older adults and their families with warm, vetted, paid companions for regular visits and good company. It is companionship, not regulated care. The service and this website are run by Amble Companions Ltd ("Amble", "we", "us"), registered in England and Wales, company number 17357800, registered office 3 Ridings Barn, Loxwood Road, Alfold, Cranleigh GU6 8EW. We are the data controller for the personal information described here. ICO registration ZC205988. Anything about your data: hello@amblecompanions.com or 0333 305 0644.

The information we collect

If you enquire for yourself or a relative: your name, email, phone and relationship to the older person; the older person's name, postcode, interests, availability and anything you tell us about them. At the consultation we ask about the household and the visit itself - who else lives there, pets, access to the home, mobility, sight and hearing, memory, and anything a companion should avoid or know. Some of this is health information. We ask for it only so the visit is safe and right for the person, and only with the older person's own explicit agreement, or that of someone with legal authority to decide for them - an attorney under a health and welfare lasting power of attorney, or a court-appointed deputy. Without that, we do not ask about health. You can also add a photo of the older person, if they are happy for you to. It is optional.

If you apply to be a companion: your name, contact details, area and how far you travel, interests, availability, a short about-you, a photo, your rate, the names and email addresses of two referees and what they tell us, your interview scores and notes, whether you have the right to work in the UK, and anything you declare about cautions, convictions or investigations. With your agreement we arrange a basic DBS check and a right-to-work check through uCheck and record the outcome. Information about criminal offences is handled under Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 - paragraph 1 (employment and social protection) and paragraph 10 (preventing or detecting unlawful acts) - and our appropriate policy document.

If you are a referee: your name, email, relationship to the applicant and your answers.

Once visits are arranged: visit dates and times, check-in and check-out times, the companion's short note after each visit, ratings, any concern raised, and messages between you and Amble.

Payments: card payments are taken by Stripe. Amble never sees or stores your full card number. Companions are paid through Stripe Connect, which holds the details it needs to pay them.

Website: essential cookies, and Google Analytics only if you accept it on the banner - see our Cookies page.

Why we use it, and the legal basis

To arrange, run and look after companionship visits - the consultation, matching, bookings, reminders, visit summaries and after-care (performance of our agreement with you, and our legitimate interest in running the service you asked for). To vet companions - references, interview, DBS and right-to-work checks (legitimate interest in safety for references and the interview, and legal obligation for the DBS and right-to-work checks). To keep everyone safe - check-in alerts, concerns and safeguarding (legitimate interest, and where needed vital interests). Health information gathered at the consultation is used with the explicit consent of the older person, or of their attorney or deputy. Criminal-offence information is used under the Schedule 1 conditions above. To take and make payments (performance of our agreement). To send you updates about Amble, only if you have opted in (consent - withdraw at any time). To understand how the website is used (consent, through the cookie banner). To keep records the law requires (legal obligation).

Who we share it with

Companions see what they need for a visit. Before accepting: the older person's first name, their town and rough distance, interests, a few lines about them, the good-to-know notes from the consultation and, if you add one, their photo. Once they accept: the address and how to get in. On the day of the visit: the family contact's name and number, in case of difficulty. Families see a companion's first name, photo, interests and short profile. We never sell personal information. We use trusted providers to run Amble, who act only on our instructions under contract: our website platform (Framer), our database and email provider, Stripe for payments, uCheck for DBS and right-to-work checks, Twilio for text messages, WhatsApp for messaging, Google for our email, calendar and, with your consent, analytics, and Cloudflare for spam protection on forms. We share information with the local authority adult safeguarding team or the police where someone's safety requires it, and otherwise where the law requires. If Amble is reorganised or sold, records may pass to the new owner under the same protections. Some providers process data outside the UK. Where they do, we rely on UK-approved safeguards such as the International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK addendum to standard contractual clauses.

How long we keep it

Companion applications that don't go ahead: 6 months after we tell you the outcome, or up to 2 years if you agree.

Family and older person details, consultation notes and messages: 1 year after the arrangement ends.

Visit records, matching history and feedback: 6 years after the arrangement ends.

Companion records: 6 years after they stop working with us. Right-to-work evidence: 2 years after.

DBS: a summary only (date, certificate number, level, outcome), 6 years after a companion leaves. We never keep the certificate; any details seen are kept no more than 6 months.

Safeguarding concerns and complaints: at least 6 years after they are closed.

Payments and accounts: 6 years from the end of the financial year.

Waitlist sign-ups who never become a family or companion applicant: deleted 2 years after signing up.

If you opt out of marketing, we keep only enough to make sure we don't contact you again.

If you ask us to delete your information we will do so promptly, keeping only what the law requires us to keep and telling you what that is.

Keeping it safe

Access is limited to the people who need it. Sensitive information is kept apart and protected. Our database enforces strict access rules, keeps an audit trail of changes, and holds keys and secrets in a vault, never in code. Photos live in a private store and are shown only through short-lived links. No system is perfectly secure, and we keep improving ours.

Your rights

You can ask for a copy of your information, ask us to correct or delete it, object to or restrict certain uses, withdraw consent where we rely on it, and ask for your data in a portable format. Email hello@amblecompanions.com and we will respond within one month. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Children

Amble is for adults. It is not intended for anyone under 18 and we do not knowingly collect information about children.

Changes

We update this policy when the service changes. The date at the top shows the current version.

Contact

hello@amblecompanions.com, 0333 305 0644, or write to Amble Companions Ltd, 3 Ridings Barn, Loxwood Road, Alfold, Cranleigh GU6 8EW.