Anti Modern Slavery

For more information on our recent event, have a look here

Read the article by The Clewer Initiative on our recent event in Bradford

What is modern slavery?

The term ‘modern slavery’ includes both trafficking and exploitation, and can take many forms such as sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, forced marriage and domestic servitude, as well as exploitation in criminal activity, such as county lines drug supply, shoplifting and cannabis cultivation.

In 2019 there were 136,000 victims modern slavery in the UK.

Where might we encounter victims of modern slavery?

There are many situations in our day to day lives where victims of modern slavery may be closer than we realise. Here are just some of the ways we can all be vigilant:

• Volunteers working in projects for vulnerable and destitute people, such as food banks and homeless shelters, should understand the signs to look out for when dealing with service users. It is not uncommon for potential victims to use the support provided by such projects.

• People working in cleaning, social care, hospitality agriculture, harvesting and food processing can be alert to warning signs among co-workers.

• We can all be alert to unusual activity in our neighbourhood: young people making excessive and unexplained outings; comings and goings to a property at all hours of day and night; high levels of condensation on windows and constantly covered/blacked out windows; concerns about delivery drivers and door to door sellers or signs of people living in squalid, overcrowded or unsuitable conditions or on sites such as car washes.

Partnership with The Clewer Initiative

Wellsprings Together works with The Clewer Initiative to give support to parishes by raising awareness for all - providing access to a range of training resources and supplying helpful information, such as spotting the signs of modern slavery and how to report any suspicions.

Information and downloadable training resources, videos, posters and useful apps (such as the carwash app and the Farm Work Welfare app) are available from The Clewer Initiative website, or contact Peter on peter.smith@wellspringstogether.org.uk for more details.