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Unseen and PCC unite to support modern slavery survivors

Clare Moody, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset, has awarded anti-slavery charity Unseen funding over five years to support victims of modern slavery and exploitation.

The funding will enable Unseen to provide specialist support to modern slavery victims from hard to reach communities in Avon and Somerset.

Working in partnership with other service providers and the police, Unseen will advocate for victims and help them rebuild their lives. The support provided will involve input from service users, ensuring services are informed by lived experience.

Collaboration in action: service providers gathered to learn more about services available to support victims of crime thanks to funding from the Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner. Pictured (left to right): Hannah Barry, Unseen Head of Fundraising; Kali Rad, Unseen Head of Frontline Services; and Clare Moody, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset.

Enhanced services for survivors of modern slavery

The funding will also enable Unseen to:

  • Deliver a coordinated range of interventions for victims before and after entry into the National Referral Mechanism, the government’s framework for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery. 
  • Provide new technology and performance frameworks that measure outcomes for potential victims living in the community, eg impact on mental health, improved resilience, feeling empowered to report to the police.
  • Capture feedback and learning from lived experience consultancy groups to help continually improve the service and ensure that the survivor voice remains central to this work.

Providing tailored support to people in vulnerable positions

“I am deeply grateful that we will continue to build our long-standing relationship with the team at Unseen who will be delivering this much needed modern slavery and human trafficking service for victims of this complex crime,” said Clare.

“It is vital that we have specialist frontline professionals that can offer tailored support and signposting for people in vulnerable positions within our communities. We want victims to know that they can access this support, regardless of whether the crime has been reported to the police, and that they have access to a safe space to genuinely feel heard, valued and supported.”

The funding follows a research-driven commissioning process that put victims and their voices at the heart of the PCC’s approach to tackling modern slavery.

Helping people rebuild their lives with dignity

“This vital funding will enable Unseen to provide long-term support to victims of this egregious crime,” said Kali Rad, Head of Frontline Services at Unseen.

“Crucially, it allows us to reach individuals who are often overlooked or unable to access help – those from the most marginalised and hard-to-reach communities. By working in partnership with other services and placing survivor voices at the centre of everything we do, we can ensure victims receive not only assistance but also the high quality, long-term support they need to rebuild their lives with dignity, safety and hope.”

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This article first appeared in the London Universities Purchasing Consortium’s, Autumn 2025 edition of Linked Magazine: Modern slavery is one of the world’s fastest-growing crimes, embedded in global and local supply chains. Every organisation has a role to play in eradicating it. Unseen partners with businesses, policymakers and communities to uncover exploitation, support survivors and help build a slavery-free future.

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Justine Currell

As I came to understand more about the issue, including through a visit to an Unseen safehouse, I knew I needed to do more to stop this abuse and exploitation.

For the last five years of my Civil Service career, I was the Modern Slavery Senior Policy Advisor in the Home Office and led on development of the Modern Slavery Act, including the transparency in supply chains provision and business guidance.

I joined Unseen to lead the development of the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline, and Unseen’s work with businesses. I am regularly called upon to present at national and international conferences and use my experience of working with Ministers to influence other governments internationally to take action to address modern slavery and, in particular, business supply chain issues.

In my spare time I enjoy keeping fit, music, reading and travelling.

Andrew Wallis

What ultimately compelled me to act was a report on how people from Eastern Europe were being trafficked through Bristol airport to the USA. Kate Garbers, who went on to be an Unseen Director, and I wrote to all the city councillors, MPs and the Police Chief Constable challenging them on the issue. The challenge came back to us: this city needs safe housing for trafficked women. And so Unseen began.

But we never wanted Unseen to be just about safe housing. We wanted to end slavery once and for all, and that remains our driving focus.

I chaired the working group for the Centre for Social Justice’s landmark report “It Happens Here: Equipping the United Kingdom to Fight Modern Slavery”. This is now acknowledged as the catalyst behind the UK’s Modern Slavery Act of 2015. It was a great honour to be awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours that year. On the other hand, I’ve also been described as “the loveliest disrupter you could ever hope to meet”.

This job has taken me from building flat-pack furniture for safehouses, to working with businesses to address slavery in supply chains, to delivering training, raising awareness and advising governments around the world.

When not at work, I enjoy travelling, spending time with my dog Harley, cooking, supporting Liverpool and Yorkshire CC, music (I’m a former DJ) and endurance events such as the Three Peaks Challenge and Tribe Freedom Runs – which I vow never to do again. Until the next time.