Our history
Call the UK Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline on 08000 121 700
Unseen founded
Andrew Wallis and Kate Garbers set up Unseen, initially providing safe housing for survivors of modern slavery. Andrew becomes CEO and Kate Director. The founders were friends, and both had been on different journeys that came to the same conclusion: something must be done about modern slavery.
Says Andrew: “The actual catalyst for Unseen was a former colleague of mine who had returned from a trip to Ukraine.
“While in the country he had encountered trafficking and ended up helping a woman by paying off her potential trafficker – then reimbursing her for the money she thought she had lost because she had assumed she was going to a job in the US.
“Some months later Kate came to me with a story of child trafficking from orphanages where she had been volunteering, also in Ukraine.
“The third piece of the puzzle was coming across an article that talked about trafficking from Eastern Europe to the US, with traffickers using UK regional airports en route to the US, in order to avoid detection at the main hub airports. One of the airports was Bristol.
“This joined the dots in my head and led to a letter to councillors, MPs and the Chief Constable that ultimately led to a meeting with Steve Jeffries who was the senior police officer tasked with responding to my letter.
“That meeting was where Steve told me about the scale and nature of the problem both in Bristol and the UK.
“He challenged me to do more than write a letter; safe housing for modern slavery survivors was what was really needed.
“Kate then approached me about doing something about the issue of trafficking in the Ukraine, and following that discussion we started Unseen – meeting the immediate need for safe housing but also committing to working to end slavery. Steve was our new charity’s first trustee.”
The first Anti-Slavery Partnership
Andrew and Kate soon realised caring for survivors was only part of the answer. “We needed to prevent slavery happening in the first place,” says Andrew. This meant working in collaboration with other organisations. In partnership with Bristol City Council and Avon and Somerset Police, Unseen sets up the South West Anti-Slavery Partnership (ASP), bringing together a number of agencies across Avon and Somerset to share knowledge and work together to better understand issues and identify victims. We’re still chairing the ASP today.
Women’s safehouse launched
First safehouse for survivors of modern slavery in the South West, with specialist provision.
Making political waves
Unseen CEO Andrew Wallis chairs the Joint Modern Slavery Strategic Group at the Home Office and becomes a member of the Inter Departmental Ministerial Group presenting to the UK Cabinet.
Resettlement service
Unseen’s resettlement service is launched to provide ongoing care in the community. This becomes the Outreach service. By 2023 our Outreach team has worked with more than 520 men, women and children.
It Happens Here
Landmark investigation into modern slavery by the Centre for Social Justice, chaired by Unseen CEO Andrew Wallis, publishes its findings. The report – It Happens Here – is the catalyst for the 2015 Modern Slavery Act.
Unseen winning awards
Unseen receives the Centre for Social Justice award as an organisation that displays “innovation and effectiveness in addressing the root causes of poverty, turning lives around and reversing social breakdown”. We go on to be winners at other awards, including the 2015 Charity Times Charity of the Year Awards, GSK Impact Awards (2018), and Campaign for Good Awards (2019).
Modern Slavery Act
Legislation that turns heads around the globe is passed as a direct result of the It Happens Here report. Unseen builds a coalition of businesses, investors, faith groups, NGOs and the public to press for more business responsibility in addressing modern slavery. This results in the Transparency in Supply Chains (TISC) provision in the Act.
Helpline and Resource Centre
Working in partnership with BT, Unseen sets up the UK Modern Slavery Helpline and Resource Centre, which becomes the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline which we know today. By 2023 the Helpline has been contacted nearly 50,000 times through its phone lines, web forms and app. More than 30,000 potential victims of modern slavery have been indicated as a result.
“….. The Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline has continued to deliver essential guidance to those who are concerned about potential exploitation through intelligent and effective signposting and information. [Its] annual assessment report provides great data and useful insights into current and emerging areas of concern.
“The Helpline is a hugely valuable part of the UK’s response to the most egregious crimes.”
Going global
Unseen delivers training and consultancy far and wide, including in South Africa, Hungary and Jordan.
BT Tower
To coincide with the annual Anti-Slavery Day, Unseen’s Helpline number is displayed on the BT Tower for the first time, something which becomes a regular occurrence.
Let’s Nail It!
Unseen’s Let’s Nail It! campaign, highlighting the role of nail bars in modern slavery, is launched. It is just one of increasingly-frequent campaigns that grab national media attention and help raise awareness of modern slavery.
Children’s safehouse
With 60% of trafficked children going missing from children’s homes within hours of being found by the authorities, we pilot a successful alternative where no children go missing. The same year we launch the men’s safehouse, too.
Business and Unseen
Unseen’s Business Helpline Portal is launched, providing members with exclusive data plus insights from our Helpline team – all via an online platform. Clothing retailer Next is first to sign up to the service. Unseen’s first business conference is held in Suffolk and offers training for businesses across the region, building on its training of other organisations, such as local government. By 2023 Unseen is working with many businesses big and small, advising them on anti-slavery strategies in their own operations and in their supply chains.
Tech Against Trafficking
Unseen becomes a specialist advisor to Tech Against Trafficking, an initiative launched by BT, Nokia, Microsoft, Salesforce, and BSR
Winning in Europe
Unseen presents to the Council of Europe and at the 19th Annual OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) on how technology can be used in the fight against trafficking.
Covid-19
Unseen maintains full service on its Helpline and in its safehouses and community work, despite lockdown restrictions in the pandemic
Coalition to Stop Slavery
Unseen is a founder member and coordinator of a new initiative to get anti-slavery organisations working more closely together. It’s social media campaign in 2022 to raise awareness of modern slavery reaches one in 10 of the entire UK population.
Ukrainians Welcome
With the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Unseen leads an award-winning initiative to provide online safety information to Ukrainian refugees arriving in the UK.
Such was the case in the Ukraine war that began in 2022, and Unseen led a coalition of NGOs in a major response to this.
This included building the ukrainianswelcome.org website and persuading Vodafone Ukraine to send a text message to all Ukrainians arriving in the UK, signposting them to the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline and the website.
We worked with fellow charities STOP THE TRAFFIK and Hope for Justice to distribute thousands of leaflets featuring the website to ports and other entry points, and to Ukrainian community groups across the UK.
Our work inspired the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to build a similar, pan-European website for Ukrainians and promote it on text messages in 30 European states.
As a result, more than 1.5 million Ukrainian people have received information on how to stay safe from exploitation.
Commonwealth Games
Unseen’s Helpline is central to an anti-slavery campaign at the Commonwealth Games, featuring top athletes Ellie Simmonds and Usain Bolt, among others.
Unseen teamed up with fellow charity It’s A Penalty and top athletes Usain Bolt, Ellie Simmonds, Cathy Freeman, Asha Philip, plus netball sisters Sasha and Kadeen Corbin, to raise awareness of human trafficking and promote our Helpline during the Games.
With the games reaching around 180 million people worldwide, this is an example of great partnership working as our Helpline had the chance to be seen by millions of households.
The athletes lent their voice to the campaign via a 30-second video shown on flights to and from the Birmingham games, and a series of posters distributed across the West Midlands.
Survivor Consultants
Unseen’s ambition has always been to have survivors of modern slavery guide and inform what we do. As such, we launched a Survivor Consultants Group, an initiative that not only allows us to learn from those with lived experience, but also provides survivors with work experience and training to help them move into permanent employment when they are ready.
Business awards
In 2023, Unseen launched the annual Business Awards event focused on celebrating businesses and individuals making a significant impact in the fight against modern slavery.
The awards aim not only to recognise progress but also to inspire more businesses to take action and help shape a future free from exploitation.
Helpline wins £1 million
The Helpline is awarded £1 million over five years, extending vital support to those who are most at risk of exploitation across England.
Andrew Wallis wins founder of the year
CEO and founder of Unseen, Andrew Wallis, OBE wins Benefact Group's, Founder of the Year Award at their Charity Heroes Awards event. This recognition granted Unseen £5,000 towards eradicating modern slavery in the UK.