1. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your computer, smartphone, or tablet when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites function efficiently, improve user experience, enhance security, and provide information to site owners about how visitors interact with their pages.

2. How We Use Cookies

Stella Matutina Care Home (“we”, “us”, or “our”) uses cookies on our website (https://www.stellamatutinacarehome.co.uk) for essential operational purposes, security, performance, and to deliver embedded content such as interactive map directions and live community news feeds.

We categorise the cookies used on our site into the following types:

A. Strictly Necessary (Essential) Cookies

These cookies are mandatory for the website to function securely and properly. They allow you to navigate our pages, submit contact forms, and use security features. Disabling these cookies in your browser settings may prevent key parts of the website from operating correctly.

B. Functional & Performance Cookies

These cookies help us remember your preferences (such as your cookie consent choices) and allow us to analyze how visitors navigate our site so we can continuously improve page performance and loading speeds.

C. Third-Party & Embedded Content Cookies

To enhance your experience, our site features embedded elements hosted by third-party services:

Google Maps: Embedded on our Contact page to provide directions and interactive map location details.
Meta / Facebook: Used to display live community news, activities, and photo updates directly from our social media channels.

When you view pages containing embedded content, these third-party providers may set their own cookies on your browser to track usage, measure functionality, or store your preferences in accordance with their own privacy policies.

3. Summary of Cookies Used

Essential Cookies: Enables site navigation, security, and contact form submission (Provider: WordPress / Elementor)
Functional Cookies: Remembers your cookie preferences and consent choices (Provider: Website Platform)
Location & Maps Cookies: Powers interactive location maps and directions on the Contact page (Provider: Google Maps)
Community Feed Cookies: Displays live activities, photo galleries, and news updates (Provider: Meta / Facebook)
Analytics Cookies (Optional): Aggregates anonymous visitor usage statistics (Provider: Google Analytics)

4. How to Manage and Disable Cookies

You have the right to choose whether to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies by default, but you can alter your browser settings to block, limit, or delete cookies at any time.

Here is how to manage cookie preferences across common browsers:

Google Chrome: Settings → Privacy and Security → Third-Party Cookies
Mozilla Firefox: Options → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data
Apple Safari: Preferences → Privacy → Block All Cookies
Microsoft Edge: Settings → Site Permissions → Cookies and Site Data

Please note: Blocking essential cookies may degrade your browsing experience and prevent online forms or maps from displaying properly.

For comprehensive instructions on how to manage and delete cookies across various devices, visit www.allaboutcookies.org or www.aboutcookies.org.

5. Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding our use of cookies or this Cookie Policy, please contact our Home Manager:

Care Home Manager: Dawn Ward
Address: Stella Matutina Care Home, 16 Clifton Drive, Ansdell, Lytham St Annes, FY8 5RQ
Email: manager@scjm.org
Phone: 01253 734 834