### Understanding Website Cookies and Your Privacy Options

In today's digital environment, the role of cookies in website functionality is critical, often determining whether a site operates correctly. These essential cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be turned off, as they typically respond to user-initiated actions like setting privacy preferences, logging in, or filling out forms. Although it’s possible to configure your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, doing so may impair some parts of the site. Importantly, these essential cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Functional cookies enhance the website’s performance and user experience by offering features such as personalisation. These can be set by either the website itself or third-party providers whose services are integrated into the site. Disabling these cookies may cause certain functionalities and services not to work properly.

Recognising the importance of user choice, we provide you with the ability to opt-out from sharing your personal information with advertisers and social media companies. This can be easily managed through a toggle switch, ensuring you're in full control of your privacy settings across all platforms, services, and devices. Detailed information on these options is available in our privacy notice.

Performance cookies play a key role in understanding and improving website usage. By tracking visits and traffic sources, these cookies help us gauge which pages are most popular and how visitors navigate the site. The data collected is aggregated and remains anonymous. Disabling these cookies means we won't be able to monitor site performance effectively.

Social media cookies enable content sharing across different networks and can track your browser across various sites, building a profile of your interests. This tracking can influence the content and advertisements you encounter on other websites. If these cookies are disabled, you may experience limitations in content sharing functionalities.

Finally, advertising cookies, usually set by our partners, construct a browser and device-specific profile of your interests to deliver targeted ads on other sites. Although these cookies don't store direct personal information, blocking them will generally result in less targeted advertising.

Understanding and managing these diverse cookie types allows for a more tailored and secure online experience, giving you greater control over your personal data and privacy.