Getting the ball rolling in the Diocese of St Albans
Claire Walford
At the start of April, more than 20 people gathered for a Modern Slavery Awareness and Action workshop in the Diocese of St Albans.
Ruth Dearnley of STOP THE TRAFFIK, DS Wendy Close of Hertfordshire Constabulary and our director, Lois, spoke at the event, which was designed for the Diocese’s clergy, safeguarding leads, youth workers and those involved in social action projects.
Ruth kicked off the day with an inspiring and motivational session on how to stop trafficking globally. She noted that faith groups hold ‘untapped power’ to tell stories and that this kind of data enables organisations like STOP THE TRAFFIK to collaborate with enforcement and create targeted adverts to prevent young people from getting drawn into exploitation.
Ruth was followed by an informational session from DS Wendy on how the Police works with others to investigate and prosecute exploitation across Hertfordshire. It partners to share intelligence, triage NRM referrals for support and conduct safeguarding visits to people at risk. The Police has recently noticed an increase in referrals from uber drivers and sandwich shops in the area. Wendy also spoke about some of the challenges around victims’ fear of reprisals, cultural and language barriers and risks of revictimisation and how these factors are all barriers to support.
Jos Perris, Safeguarding Training Coordinator and Trainer at Diocese of St Albans; Annie Brewster, His Majesty the King's Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire and Lois Bosatta.
For the rest of the workshop, Lois led the delegates through a series of interactive activities and case studies, exploring how to turn concern into action and collaboration.
Lois explains: “We looked at our circles of influence and opportunities for engaging with our friends, neighbours, workplaces or jobs before identifying where we might encounter people at risk. We considered two scenarios – one around a soup kitchen and one involving a child criminal exploitation case. Finally, we gave people time to plan one action they would undertake over the next six months.”
The Diocese is keen that this is the just the beginning: the next steps are to prepare a Diocesan Vision and Action Plan for St Albans, identifying opportunities for response across parishes and teams for the coming year. Some of the ideas in the room included carrying out further awareness raising, training in youth projects and support services, safeguarding support and engagement with schools and business around Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
We look forward to supporting St Albans as their plans develop!
If we can help your diocese or parish by facilitating a similar style workshop, or if you want to help sponsor a workshop, email us at info@clewer.org.uk