Meet Maria!
Claire Walford
Maria is joining our central team for a couple of months to work on projects such as the Safe Car Wash App and coordinating the National Network Gathering.
Maria brings a wealth of frontline experience and insight to the team.
Her modern slavery journey began in 2018, when she enrolled in a Master’s degree in Human Trafficking, Organised Crime and Migration. Following graduation, she became an outreach advocate in Hestia’s modern slavery response team, supporting 15-20 male and female clients.
She says: “It was an incredibly intense experience, supporting human trafficking survivors in whatever way they needed including help with children, accessing services and preparing for asylum interviews. Some of my clients coped well with life in London post-exploitation, others were extremely traumatised with serious mental health issues and suicidal feelings. It opened my eyes to how awful life can be for many human trafficking victims, as they navigate the asylum system and exist on minimal money. Having said that, I was often struck by the faith of some of my clients. Even though they had suffered immensely, many clung to the hope they had in their God.”
After two and a half years at Hestia, Maria moved to Migrant Help to work in an all-male asylum hotel in Elephant & Castle. She ran a drop-in centre where individuals could receive holistic support as they went through the asylum process. She would help them access medical care, enrol in English language lessons and even found a local martial arts class for one client to attend once a week for free.
Maria saw firsthand how many asylum seekers live in derelict and unsafe accommodation, confined to extremely basic provisions, with huge uncertainty about what is to come, and fear navigating the immigration and/or NRM system. Until granted Leave to Remain, asylum seekers cannot claim benefits. At the same time, while their asylum claim is being processed, they are legally barred from working, which can lead to being caught up in exploitative forms of work to make ends meet for their families.
More recently, Maria has set up her own consultancy business providing expert witness reports and independent advice on legal cases involving potential victims of human trafficking and modern slavery. She has developed specialist knowledge in county lines cases through her direct experience supporting potential victims.
We’re so glad to have Maria on the team – her knowledge of county lines, human trafficking and survivor support is invaluable to us!
