Modern Slavery Statement

Introduction 

YMCA George Williams College is committed to acting ethically and with integrity.  We are aligned with our National Council, YMCA England & Wales, in recognising that modern slavery is a violation of human rights. We define modern slavery as: 

  • Human trafficking;  

  • Child labour;  

  • Forced work, through mental or physical threat;  

  • Being owned or controlled by an employer through mental or physical abuse, or the threat of abuse;  

  • Being dehumanised, treated as a commodity or being bought or sold as property; and/or  

  • Being physically constrained or having restrictions placed on freedom of movement.  

YMCA George Williams College is committed to the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the abolition of modern slavery and human trafficking. We do not tolerate slavery or human trafficking in any part of our operations, and strive to ensure that it does not take place in our supply chains. 
 

Organisation Structure and Supply Chains 

YMCA George Williams College is an independent registered charity within the YMCA Federation of England & Wales, operating within the youth sector. It is a relatively small organisation with less than 30 employees. The College is a member of the Living Wage Foundation.  

For over fifty years, The College devoted itself to the training and education of youth workers from pre to post graduate levels, however significant cuts to the sector ultimately contributed to a decline in student numbers resulting in a merger in April 2022 with the Centre for Youth Impact (itself an independent charity established in 2018). Post-merger, YMCA George Williams College combines expertise in understanding and improving quality and impact in youth provision with the training and development of practitioners. 

YMCA George Williams is a primarily remote-working organisation with limited supply chains. The supply chains mainly fall under the following categories: 

  • Consultants and freelance associates – we work in partnership with a small number of consultants and associates who bring expertise and capacity to support our endeavours. We also act as a subcontractor for consultants e.g. research organisations. 

  • Support service providers e.g. IT support, payroll provision 

  • Suppliers of equipment, resources and materials e.g. IT equipment, resources for training session, printers 

  • Logistics e.g. travel and accommodation 
     

What We Are Doing to Prevent Slavery and Human Trafficking  

  1. Due diligence  

  • We tender support service contracts and take up references on the preferred supplier. 

  • We ask any company that supplies goods or services to us to confirm in writing that their supply chains are free of slavery, forced labour or servitude, child labour, or human trafficking.  

  • We strive to make appropriate checks on all employees, recruitment agencies, and suppliers to know who is working for, or on behalf of us.  

  • We engage with our stakeholders through partnerships, alliances, practitioner panels and young researcher and evaluator panels to understand the impacts of our services and practices. 

2) Rights and responsibilities 

  • We provide every employee with a written contract of employment and access to the policies and procedures designed to support them. We pay every employee in accordance with the law.  

  • We comply with our legal obligations to ensure the health and safety of all our employees and workers, including in relation to working hours, rest breaks, and holidays.  

  • We respect the right of individual employees to join a trade union of their choosing, or to leave a trade union, and would not treat anyone unfavourably on this basis. Our policies clearly outline employee’s rights regarding representation, including in any form of disciplinary or grievance hearings.  

  • We acknowledge our responsibility to comply with all principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and are taking proactive steps to identify, prevent, and mitigate any actual or potential risks.  

3) Training and development 

  • We provide awareness-raising training to staff on the Modern Slavery Act 2015, of their individual responsibilities to work to prevent slavery or human trafficking, and the appropriate action to take if they have any suspicions of Modern Slavery or human trafficking in our business or supply chains. 

  • We regularly review Board performance and, in particular, full engagement with the Charity Governance Code.  


Policies in Relation to Slavery and Human Trafficking 

All staff are issued with a contract outlining the terms and conditions of their employment. This is accompanied by the staff handbook outlining our policies and practices. Policies of particular relevance here are: 

  • Modern Slavery Policy; 

  • Dignity at work policy; 

  • Equality and Diversity Policy; 

  • Health and Safety Policy; 

  • Learning and Development Policy; 

  • Grievance and Whistleblowing policies; 

  • Data protection and Data Security and Incident management policies; and 

  • Financial regulations. 

The staff handbook also covers: 

  • Code of Conduct; 

  • Fairness and Equality; 

  • Pay principles and Salary Scales and Renumeration Policy; 

  • Overtime and TOIL; 

  • Time off work and absence; 

  • Employee wellbeing; 

  • Bullying and harassment; and 

  • Recruitment policies. 

All policies are freely available to staff at all times and staff are supported through training and development to understand the policies. The policies are regularly reviewed to ensure they are up to date and being implemented appropriately in practice.  

New policies are developed by the Head of Operations as and when needed to ensure good practice and clarity of expectations. Policies are reviewed and signed off by the Senior Leadership Team and by the Board of trustees. 

 

Risk Assessments and Performance Management 

An assessment of the risks around modern slavery forms part of our organisational-level risk assessment. The assessment of risks is led by the Senior Leadership Team and the risk register is reviewed at each Board meeting, and there is ownership of the risk register via the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee meeting. 

As we have tight recruitment and vetting procedures and procure goods and services from a limited range of suppliers, we consider the risk of modern slavery in our organisation and supply chains to be low. 

We manage performance against our commitments by undertaking regular reviews of our suppliers, contracts, and practices and ensure we are meeting our stated commitments around training, compliance and reporting. 

 

This statement has been approved by the Board of Trustees of YMCA George Williams College and signed by Geethika Jayatilaka, Interim Executive Director.