It's said that during 2018 Slavery in London leapt by 60%. Whilst I can walk through my city feeling safe, secure and be able to call it my home. There are many vulnerable people being left open to repeated abuse because of a failure to protect them. We may think of slavery as a thing of the past. Something that surely doesn't impact us now. It's not true. There are more people trapped in slavery today than at any point in human history. There are an estimated 25 million people affected globally, many of whom are children. 

Last month my boss, Rob Hicks, introduced me to Hope for Justice. He told me about a project happening in 2019 which gave the opportunity to be part of the change that fights against what's happening here in London. That project is 'Connecting HR Africa' and on Friday I was told I'm on the team.

Hope for Justice are committed to changing lives and ending slavery, by:

PREVENTING exploitation
RESCUING victims
RESTORING lives, and
REFORMING society.

The Hope for Justice Africa project focuses on restoring the lives of child exploitation victims and preventing trafficking across Ethiopia, Uganda and Zimbabwe. 

To find out more about Hope for Justice’s work, you can view their ‘About Us’ video here: https://youtu.be/0_bAkVbjZro

In September I will be travelling to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia with Hope for Justice Africa and #ConnectingHR. This project is a unique opportunity for HR / L&D professionals to make a targeted impact on the staff and children across Hope for Justice's program. We will be providing management and team training for local volunteers whilst also spending time with vulnerable kids to help to show them that someone does care. 

I will pay for all of my travelling costs, but I have also committed to raise at least £2,000 which will go directly to the charity to make sure they're kept fully funded.

Hope for Justice builds real trust, so that children who are often frightened and traumatised choose to come to them for food, shelter, safety, counselling, life skills in a safe place where they can be children, before returning back to family-based care.

More details about what we do out there can be found in Ian Pettigrew's blog about last year's trip:

http://www.kingfishercoaching.com/reflections-on-connectin…/

Please help me to take part in this challenge and help us to make a difference.