The Liverpool story

The Diocese of Liverpool was one of The Clewer Initiative’s initial pilot dioceses. Since its early involvement, the diocese has pursued a variety of opportunities to spread the word about modern slavery. Strategic meetings on modern slavery in Liverpool have been convened by the diocese with key partners to ensure the Merseyside area is doing all it can to root out modern slavery.

Along with the dioceses of Virginia in the United States and Kumasi in Ghana, Liverpool is engaged in a project called the Triangle of Hope, which aims to convert the triangle of despair, slavery, and exploitation into hope. Through the project, the dioceses are grappling with their historic involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and are committed to learning from the past to combat modern slavery and human trafficking. Triangle of Hope have established strong links with The Clewer Initiative.

Contextualising modern slavery through training and events

The Diocese of Liverpool ran a well-attended Hidden Voices training series. The training was delivered across two months in partnership with The Clewer Initiative. The aim of the training was to equip people with the knowledge to understand, identify, and respond to modern slavery, and to enable participants to turn learning into action in their local contexts. In addition to training, other events include:

• A workshop on modern slavery at St Mary’s, Wavertree, which brought together a number of anti-slavery organisations.
• A talk on the context of modern slavery at a ‘Vigil for Peace’ event. The message the diocese are seeking to spread is that slavery is on everyone’s doorstep.

Growing a team of activists

The diocese is working to grow its team of modern slavery activists by making connections with those engaged in modern slavery work across the diocese, including those in clergy and lay ministry. The modern slavery team work in close partnership with a range of organisations, including Triangle of Hope and Together Liverpool. The diocese also has links with the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership, which seeks to implement a public health ‘whole systems approach’ to violence.

Celebrating award-winning work

Jen Williams from Liverpool Diocese has won a Josephine Butler Award for her anti-slavery work with Tsedeqah. Members of Tsedeqah, a mission community based at Liverpool Cathedral, work on a variety of social justice projects across the Liverpool City region. Jen’s particular interests lie in County Lines and sex trafficking.