A Note from Red Room Poetry

We've been impacted by a recent cyber-security incident.

What exactly happened?

Late on the evening of Monday, 3 August 2026, Red Room Poetry was advised that our CRM database provider, Beacon, was subject to a cyber attack in the previous week. During this attack, copies of database backups were made, and it is likely that they were downloaded. It is also likely (although not confirmed) that Red Room Poetry data was included in this download.

The data was stored in an encrypted state, but the party responsible for this incident may have been able to decrypt it, and we believe it is sensible to proceed on the assumption that this is what has happened.

Beacon has advised that there is currently no evidence that this data has been shared on the dark web and there has been no ransom request.

Who is affected?

Red Room Poetry uses the Beacon database to store contact details for people we deal with regularly. For example, it stores information for past and present poets, partners, artists, suppliers, donors, board members, event guests and staff.

We have sent emails to everyone whose email address we have, and whose records were held on the database up to and including 29 August 2026. If you have not received an email from us, it is likely that your information was not stored on the Beacon database.

Beacon is not the database we use to send out our newsletters — The News Edit, The Education Edit or Friday Poem. If those are your main connection with us, it is unlikely that your data is affected.

What information is affected?

Red Room Poetry uses the Beacon database to store contact details for people we deal with regularly. For example, it stores information for past and present poets, partners, artists, suppliers, donors, partners, board members, event guests and staff.

The information we store includes names, email addresses and street/postal addresses. We also store records of contact with our close supporters, including mail and email correspondence, and records of meetings and phone calls. If you have made a donation to Red Room Poetry, we will have recorded it in Beacon.

Beacon is not our payment system, and the information we hold in the database does NOT include credit card details, banking details, logins or passwords.

What should I do?

We are not cyber experts, so our advice is general. We suggest that you remain cautious of phishing emails, SMS messages and phone calls that may exploit the leaked information, and verify requests for information independently before responding. And, of course, if you feel that your passwords may be compromised by this leaked information, you may wish to change them.

What have we done to secure our systems?

Beacon has implemented immediate measures to secure its systems and prevent any further unauthorised access. They are now:

• conducting a thorough forensic investigation with their external cyber-security specialists to understand exactly what happened;
• working with law enforcement and relevant regulators as required;
• conducting online monitoring, as is standard practice in these kinds of incidents - so far, they haven’t seen anything of concern;
• completing precautionary security measures.

You can read more about their response on the Beacon website.

Will this happen again?

Beacon has given us the following assurance

“Please know that we are taking this incident very seriously. Working with our expert third-party specialists, we are conducting a comprehensive investigation to understand what happened and to ensure we implement any additional safeguards needed to prevent this from happening again. Security is a continual process for us, and we are committed to keeping your data safe.”

We at Red Room Poetry are, of course, extremely concerned that this incident has taken place. We will take some time over the coming weeks to assess whether Beacon remains a reliably secure option for our CRM data storage.

How can I find out more?

We are keen to be as open as possible about this incident, so if you have further questions please let us know and we will share whatever information we have.

You can contact us about this incident specifically at privacy@redroompoetry.org, or call us Monday-Thursday on 1800 POETRY (1800 763 879).

We will update this page as further information becomes available.

Yours in poetry,

Jonty Claypole, CEO