---

Slavery

Answer

The Clewer Initiative was set up as a joint programme between the Church of England and the Trustees of the Community of St John the Baptist (known as the Clewer Sisters). It was launched in October 2017 with the backing of the then Prime Minister Theresa May and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

It started as an initial three-year programme working to help the Church of England's 42 dioceses support victims of modern slavery and identify signs of exploitation in their local communities. Information about its work can be found here: https://theclewerinitiative.org/

Over the past seven years the Clewer Initiative has worked with a large network of volunteers drawn from across the Church of England. Sadly, the Trustees of CSJB feel unable to continue with funding and, in the absence of an alternative funding stream, the Clewer Initiative will close this summer. The National Church Institutions are currently working to ensure that the assets of the project, especially valuable tools such as the Car Wash App, which have led to many investigations and prosecutions for Modern Day Slavery, are transferred to other charities working in this field. The Church of England remains committed to combating modern day slavery and will consider other ways to continue its work in this area.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

27523

Session

2023-24

Grouped for answer

Yes

Subjects

Church of England Finance Slavery

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk