Home-Start Suffolk is committed to preventing modern slavery and human trafficking in all areas of our work and supply chains. We recognise our responsibility to take a robust approach in tackling slavery and exploitation and to ensure ethical practices are embedded in our organisational culture.
Home-Start Suffolk is a registered charity supporting families across Suffolk through trained volunteers and staff. Our support is delivered locally and is tailored to the needs of each family. Our supply chains are limited and primarily UK-based, including providers of office supplies, IT services, training, utilities, and commissioned partners. We also work closely with statutory and voluntary sector partners across Suffolk.
We are committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and have in place policies that reflect our values and expectations. These include our Safeguarding Policy, Whistleblowing Policy, and Recruitment and finance procedures. We are strengthening these to ensure explicit reference to preventing modern slavery and exploitation, both in service delivery and in our working relationships.
We undertake proportionate due diligence when engaging with new suppliers or renewing contracts. We prioritise working with reputable organisations that comply with employment and human rights legislation and reflect ethical practice. We are developing our internal processes to further formalise these checks, particularly where work is commissioned or involves direct contact with vulnerable individuals.
We assess the risk of modern slavery within our own operations as low, due to our local focus, limited supply chains, and rigorous safeguarding procedures. However, we remain alert to the risks of exploitation, particularly in work commissioned through partnerships or with new providers. Risk assessments are conducted as part of our safeguarding, procurement, and quality assurance frameworks.
We monitor several indicators to assess our effectiveness in identifying and managing modern slavery risks:
Completion rates for staff and volunteer safeguarding training, which includes content on modern slavery – this is routinely tracked and reported
Compliance with ethical checks in procurement processes
Regular review and updating of internal policies to reflect best practice in tackling exploitation
All staff and volunteers complete core safeguarding training, which includes basic awareness of modern slavery and human trafficking. In addition, separate training on modern slavery and criminal exploitation is delivered by Suffolk County Council and accessed by relevant staff and strategic and designated leads. Strategic Safeguarding Leads undertake enhanced training which includes recognising and responding to signs of exploitation. Training is refreshed regularly to ensure understanding remains up to date. We also signpost to and make use of resources provided by the Suffolk Safeguarding Partnership to support ongoing learning and awareness.