Innovative project makes it to the top three for prestigious awards
The Passage, who run the largest Resource Centre for homeless people in the UK, have been announced as one of the winners of the 2019 London Homelessness Awards for their ground breaking Anti-Slavery project.
The team at The Passage found that homelessness and modern slavery often go hand in hand. Project lead Julia Tomas said: “If you are on the streets you are at risk of being targeted by criminals involved in modern slavery; many victims who escape modern slavery end up street homeless and when you’re a victim of modern slavery, you do not have a home.”
The Passage set up the new service in partnership with homelessness prevention and accommodation schemes. By raising awareness within the street community, offering training to front line staff in homelessness agencies and facilitating cross sector working, they are hoping to bring about real and systemic change.
Mick Clarke is the CEO at The Passage. He said: “Our team witness first-hand many instances of clients being targeted by criminals involved in modern slavery and set out to tackle this unmet need in a sustainable and easy to replicate way. We have published a report based on our experience to bring about systemic change that we need to see”.
The Passage’s report, ‘Responding to Modern Slavery and Exploitation within the Homelessness Sector’ was published in June 2019. The report shares their findings and recommendations to help address the gaps in provision that specifically relate to the homeless community and rough sleepers.
Simon Dow chaired the judging panel for the London Homelessness Awards. He said: The judges were very impressed with this project run by The Passage. The impact of modern slavery on homeless people is for many agencies a new challenge to deal with. The training and advice the Passage is developing will be an invaluable resource in helping the sector get to grips with a particularly pernicious threat.”
More details about the London Homelessness Awards can be found at www.lhawards.org.uk. For more information, pictures or interviews please contact Mark Wall mark@markwall.co.uk 0790 999 3278
