Stand with Survivors

On behalf of the Helen Bamber Foundation (HBF), thank you for your incredible generosity. Your support is hugely valuable in helping us to deliver our work with hundreds of survivors of torture, modern slavery, human trafficking and other forms of extreme human cruelty. We are very pleased to present this report on our activities from the past couple months.

Helen Bamber Foundation delivers health workshops

We have introduced a 6-session Health Education Programme which will run twice a year covering access to healthcare, nutrition, common mental health symptoms and management, chronic pain management, sexual health and assertiveness. Interest was high for each of the sessions in the first run, more than 10 clients signed up for each session.

Case study of our recent work: Teru

Teru’s parents died when she was nine, she became homeless and lived on the streets for years. She met a man who was kind to her and promised to buy her a meal at a local hotel. At the hotel, the man drugged her, cut and burned locks of her hair, took blood from her arm and showed Teru a strange mirror, which she believes showed her reflection turning away from her. The man told Teru he had put a ‘juju’ curse on her that meant she would die if she tried to run away. He took her to the airport, introduced her to another man, gave her a false passport and left. She never saw him again. Terrified, Teru travelled to the UK where she was held captive in a house, beaten repeatedly and raped by dozens of men. She regularly passed out and when she was finally taken to the hospital, her doctor saw her injuries and called the police. Teru’s belief in the curse meant she couldn’t tell the truth about why she was in the UK and she was detained in an immigration removal centre. Teru’s solicitor referred her to the Helen Bamber Foundation. Our expert counter-trafficking team secured Teru’s release from detention and found her a safe house. Teru is now engaging well with therapy and is working towards going back to school to become a teacher. She knows she has a long journey ahead of her but she feels proud of how far she has come.

New therapy interventions

• A 6-week Compassionate Mind group to assist with feelings of self-blame and self-criticism. The first group received positive responses from participants, all of whom were female victims of trafficking. Further groups will be delivered with different cohorts of clients during 2017-2018, the impact of which will be fully evaluated as part of our research programme.
• An individual programme for clients who have suffered labour exploitation, many of whom have historically not engaged in therapy. This intervention focuses on managing common psychological problems after experiences of trafficking and exploitation alongside information about their rights and keeping safe.

Helen Bamber Foundation partners with CATLIN XL to deliver employment workshops to Refugees

The Helen Bamber Foundation and CATLIN XL proudly partnered together to bring employment workshops to Refugees. For many clients of the Helen Bamber Foundation, the process of being granted Refugee status is a long journey that can take more than a decade. Whilst awaiting Refugee Status in the UK, Asylum Seekers are unable to work, therefore creating what can seem like insurmountable barriers to entering employment later in life, such as employment gaps, laps in vital computer skills, or difficulties engaging socially.

The Helen Bamber Foundation and CATLIN XL provided a group of HBF clients with a workshop on:

• - CV writing
• - Interview skills
• - Scoping and applying for jobs
• - Employment rights in the UK

Clients that participated in the workshop raved about what they learned and are eager to take part in more upcoming workshops.

On behalf of the Helen Bamber Foundation and all those we help, thank you for your on-going support and dedication. The last couple months have been full of new programmes and activities and we look forward to sharing the impact of these programmes with you in future reports.

Thank you!

Helen Bamber Foundation