At Unseen we support survivors of human trafficking and exploitation, run the UK Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline and work with individuals, communities, businesses, governments, other charities and statutory agencies to stamp out slavery for good. As we approach the end of the year, we’d like to take a moment to look back on a year of progress, acknowledging our incredible community, our partnerships, initiatives and campaigns, and our shared mission to end modern slavery and exploitation.
Empowering lives through survivor support
In 2025, we supported nearly 300 survivors through our safehouses and outreach services. Our expert casework team provides trauma-informed, person-centred support, helping survivors access physical and mental health care, legal advice, wellbeing support, safe housing, and opportunities for education, volunteering or employment.
Our weekly wellbeing café continued throughout the year, offering a safe, welcoming space for emotional support, advice, skill-building and friendship. By inviting professionals and community leaders into the café, survivors were able to connect with wider community networks and support services.
Across our safehouses, survivors took part in a range of group activities to support recovery and wellbeing, including creative writing workshops, shared meals, trips to Clevedon beach and a National Trust site, and a day trip to the Bristol Balloon Fiesta.
Providing guidance and training
Our frontline caseworkers continued their vital role as first responders, supporting 57 potential victims of trafficking to complete National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals between March and October 2025. Thanks to the five-year funding from Clare Moody, Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset, we are now able to expand specialist support for victims from hard-to-reach communities across the region.
Throughout 2025, we delivered training and expertise to charities, local authorities and professionals, helping them upskill staff, learn to spot the signs of exploitation, and strengthening Unseen’s role as a trusted first responder in the South West.
This frontline expertise also underpins Unseen’s delivery of the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline. A vital national lifeline supporting victims, professionals and the public.
Providing a lifeline: the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline
The Helpline is free, confidential, contacted by thousands every year, open 365 days a year, and run by Unseen.
This year we saw significant tech enhancements across our Helpline. One of which was the redevelopment of our webform to ensure we gather actionable information from the initial stages of contact. Additionally, we have introduced new online Frequently Asked Questions pages to better support potential victims, the public and professionals seeking guidance. Exploitation continues to have prominence and is notable through the Helpline. In the first three quarters of 2025, the Helpline handled almost 8,500 incoming calls, webforms and app submissions.
Alongside this, we delivered major technical upgrades to enhance data capture, analysis and overall system usability. Also publishing a sector-leading report on exploitation in the hospitality industry, strengthening the evidence base for targeted action.
Ending the year on a high, our incredible supporters helped raise over £90,000 through the Big Give Christmas Challenge, providing vital funding that directly supports the ongoing delivery of this essential service.
Supporters coming together to end modern slavery
This year was filled with inspiring events and supporter activity. We hosted a webinar celebrating women driving change in anti-slavery work, raising over £3,000 in the related appeal, and delivered our “How to spot the signs and keep children safe from county lines” webinar, which raised a further £2,100 for the Helpline. We also connected with valued supporters through an exclusive conversation with our CEO, Andrew Wallis OBE.
We were honoured to be the nominated charity for the Construction Cup hosted by Black & White Engineering, to benefit from the Bristol Breakfast Rotary Club Dragon Boat Race, and to be a chosen charity at the We Out Here festival. We also joined an awareness event at Southwark Cathedral and ended the year with two special events at Bath Abbey, including Mission Sunday services and a carol service supported by the Break Out Voices choir.
Our supporters went above and beyond, taking on challenges including the Monsal Trail hike, London Landmarks Half Marathon, the London, Manchester and Bristol marathons, boxing competitions, a 100km running challenge, and an upcoming 300km Boxing Day cycle. Students raised funds through the Three Peaks Challenge, skydives, and the Lisbon Marathon, while Renewal Choir delivered an inspiring performance in support of Unseen at St George’s music hall in Bristol.
We are deeply grateful to our community of supporters including Rotary and faith groups, choirs, businesses and individuals whose fundraising makes a meaningful difference for survivors.
Raising funds through partnerships
Unseen also works in partnership with a wide range of grant funders whose investment strengthens every part of our work, and we are deeply grateful to all those who stand with us, many of whom are recognised in our impact report.
Multi-year funding from the Samworth Foundation, The National Lottery Community Fund and City Bridge Foundation continues to safeguard the future of the Helpline, while support from the Swire Foundation provides stability for our Wellbeing Café through to 2026. We have also benefited from transformational funding from the CIPS Foundation, driving essential technical improvements to the Helpline, and we are excited to continue this relationship into 2026.
This year, we were pleased to welcome new partners including Benefact Group who awarded our CEO Andrew Wallis OBE their Founder of the Year Award, alongside the Sir James Reckitt Charity and Skipton Charitable Foundation, while renewing long-standing relationships with supporters such as Garfield Weston, The Nisbet Trust and Wixamtree.
Together, these funders play an invaluable role in protecting survivors, preventing exploitation and driving the systemic change needed to end modern slavery.
Survivor centred change
Our policy and research team is continually emphasising survivor voice through our survivor consultants group, which has 10 incredible members this year.
With their guidance, we have been able to:
- Co-produce research on the impact of immigration legislation on survivor wellbeing and modern slavery response effectiveness.
- Work with the University of Exeter advising them on public health interventions.
- Work with the University of Bristol on online safety for those at risk or affected by modern slavery.
- Advise the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner on business supply chain regulation.
- Develop methods for engaging hard-to-reach communities through a National Lottery funded initiative.
Additionally, our consultants have provided their expertise to external agencies and research as well, such as:
- The NHS, by participating in a survivor focus group.
- The Modern Slavery Policy and Evidence Centre, by guiding researchers in their analysis of modern slavery in Malaysian medical glove factories.
We bring this important research to partners through our work as coordinator of the South West Anti-Slavery Partnership and a member of the National Network of Coordinators Forum, working to ensure that survivors across the UK get the support they need, and first responders are equipped to tackle modern slavery.
Supporting organisations to build a more ethical future
Unseen’s business services continued to expand its impact in 2025, supporting more organisations to prevent modern slavery. A key milestone was the launch of the TISC readiness workshop, providing businesses with a focused way to assess compliance, align teams and develop clear roadmaps towards more ethical and transparent operations.
We were delighted by the 2025 CCLA Benchmark results, which saw five of the top ten most improved companies as Unseen partners. Investec was ranked the most improved company for 2025 and since the benchmark began. All Unseen membership clients from 2024 achieved Tier 2 or above, and 92% of companies that worked with us in 2024 improved their benchmark score.
Our direct engagement with businesses also grew, with 30 worker wellbeing site visits across construction, retail and entertainment, providing valuable insights into site conditions and supply chains. Alongside this, training reach expanded significantly, with over 1,700 people trained in person and more than 15,000 learners completing bespoke e-learning.
We also continued to recognise leadership in tackling modern slavery through our annual business awards, which brought together more than 140 attendees and received 60 nominations across all categories.
Campaigns driving change
This year, we delivered a series of campaigns to broaden public understanding of modern slavery beyond a solely human-rights issue, highlighting its impact across everyday systems and services. We focused on the economic cost of modern slavery, including pressures on the NHS, and during Anti-Slavery Week launched a new report examining the cost to policing, evidencing the wider strain on law enforcement.
We also published the 2024 Annual Assessment, sharing key data and insights from the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline to inform policymakers, businesses and the public. The report was widely referenced, including by The Guardian and Construction News.
The year marked the 10th anniversary of the Modern Slavery Act, shaped in part by Unseen CEO Andrew Wallis OBE and Deputy CEO Justine Carter. We reflected on its impact and limitations, stressing the need to protect and strengthen the Act, not weaken it amid political debate on migration.
In response to harmful immigration rhetoric, Unseen continued to defend victim protections. Our CEO publicly supported the effectiveness of the Modern Slavery Act and co-signed a joint letter to the Home Secretary with 14 anti-slavery charity leaders, warning of the risks posed by the Restoring Order and Control policy proposals.
Survivor protection must never be sacrificed for political expediency.
What does 2026 look like for Unseen?
Thanks to the incredible support from our community, dedication of our team, stakeholders and partners, we can proudly reflect on 2025 and look ahead to 2026 with hope for further improvement in the fight to end modern slavery.
We continue to have an unwavering commitment to supporting survivors on their journey to recovery and preventing exploitation through influencing systemic change within both business and government.
Join us in turning awareness into action. Subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook or Bluesky to stand with survivors and help end modern slavery.