Wales Anti-Slavery Conference
Friday 23rd January 2015
Venue Cymru, Llandudno
The Wales Anti-Slavery Conference took place on January 23rd 2015, with 220 delegates in attendance.
The purpose of the conference was to inform leaders from public sector, voluntary organisations and NGOs
of the current national and regional actions taking place to address modern slavery.
The invited speakers were:-
– Chair of the North Wales Anti-Slavery Project : Richard Parry Jones.
– Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner, North Wales : Julian Sandham.
– The UK Independent, Anti-Slavery Commissioner: Kevin Hyland.
– Wales Anti-Slavery Co-ordinator : Stephen Chapman.
– Operation Imperial – Gwent Police : Det. Supt. Paul Griffiths & Det. Insp. Lyndon Hawker.
– Romanian guests : Aurora Martin and Andreea Gavrila
– A survivor of Modern Slavery : Rachel
– North Wales Anti-Slavery Co-ordinator : Jim Coy.
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Delegates were invited to participate in two of the four focus group sessions, which were entitled :-
– A: The Wales Survivor/Victim Care Pathway (VCP) : Led by Angelina Rodrigues
– B: Operation Sprint – An Investigation of Sexual Exploitation: Led by Det. Supt. Paul Withers & Det.
Insp. Peter Danby, Lancashire Constabulary.
– C: UK Human Trafficking Centre and NRM Review Operations Manager, National Crime Agency :
Led by Vince Dean.
– D: Anti-Slavery Training in Wales : Led by Kim Ann Williamson, CPS Wales; Kate Hood, Llamau;
Becky Stone, New Pathways & DC Darren Johns, South Wales Police.
The main objectives for the conference were:
– To provide an overview of the national strategies for addressing modern slavery, including the
Modern Slavery Bill; changes to the National Referral Mechanism and the role of the UK
Human Trafficking Centre under the National Crime Agency;
– To present an update on the progress being made and learning points from both the North
Wales and Wales Anti-Slavery Projects;
– To share about slavery and human trafficking issues and work being done from an
international perspective;
– To give an understanding of modern slavery from the victim’s perspective;
– To present examples of recent police investigations, and the complexities of securing
convictions;
– To provide an update on the training that has been taking place throughout Wales and the
progress made in raising awareness of the issues.
– To look at the importance of multi-agency intelligence sharing;
– To provide key leaders and managers with the opportunity to consider the contribution their
departments or organisations can make to ensure the problem of modern slavery does not go
unrecognised in Wales.
Delegates were asked to give feedback as they left, and there were a great deal of positive comments, not
only about the conference, but also about the future development, training opportunities and collaborative
partnerships towards the work of Anti-Slavery in Wales.
A copy of the Conference Report can be found on the
Welsh Assembly Govt. and North Wales Police websites :
For other information, please contact Jim Coy
JamesCoy@anglesey.gov.uk
North Wales Anti-Slavery Project
Prosiect Atal-Caethwasiaeth Gogledd Cymru