In Lincoln, The Clewer Initiative has worked alongside Lincolnshire County Council and the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership to bring a striking photographic exhibition to the city.
Entitled ‘Invisible People’, it features a series of striking images, capturing snapshots of life in modern slavery – in agriculture, construction, maritime, cannabis farming and food processing, child trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced prostitution. Each image comes with written commentary describing what the viewer is seeing, and information about signs which may indicate someone is a victim.
Put together by the National Crime Agency (NCA), it will be on display outside the main entrance of Lincoln Cathedral from 12-19th October. On Anti-Slavery Day itself, Lincoln Cathedral will be holding a special Eucharist service in the morning and lighting the cathedral in yellow from dusk onwards. It hopes many people will notice the dramatic illumination.
The exhibition and illumination are the beginning of a wider programme of activity in Lincolnshire. The Lincolnshire County Council and the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership have worked with The Clewer Initiative to develop Lincolnshire-specific resources to raise awareness about modern slavery and will be organising more events over the coming months.
In Ely, The Clewer Initiative has partnered with the team at Ely Cathedral to bring a similar, pop up exhibition to the city. The NCA’s “Invisible People: Human Trafficking in the UK” display will be in the Cathedral’s North Transept throughout Sunday 18 October. There will also be a special, livestreamed service at 10.30am to mark Anti-Slavery Day with Rt Revd Dr Alastair Redfern, former Bishop of Derby and Chairman of The Clewer Initiative preaching on the subject. After the service, Shayne Tyler, Group Compliance Director for Fresca Group and campaigner against modern slavery and exploitative work, will give a short presentation, followed by a panel discussion with Shayne, Canon Martin of Ely Cathedral and Caroline Virgo from The Clewer Initiative.
These are just two ways in which cities in the UK are marking Anti-Slavery Day. We wish them the best of luck and hope that many people will learn more about modern slavery through the exhibitions and services.