About Hidden Voices Somerset Victim Support

Hidden Voices Somerset (HVS) is a local response to Modern Slavery and all forms of exploitation. Our primary focus is building asset-based community resilience through grassroots local groups - already established in Sedgemoor, Minehead and Chard, who themselves are training new church and community groups, businesses and schools using clear and consistent Apps, tools and resources provided by The Clewer Initiative, to identify and report modern slavery and exploitation.
Official figures show 62 victims across Somerset applied for statutory support through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) in the year to March 2020. Analysis of National figures indicate that 90-95% of victims do not wish to enter the NRM when offered the opportunity to do so, indicating a potential existence of 900 current victims across Somerset.
HVS has developed relationships with voluntary and statutory organisations, and after cross-agency consultation are running a six month pilot (1st October 2020 – 31st March 2021) Victim Support project for victims and those at risk. The project will be carried out in partnership with The Clewer Initiative (the national Church of England’s anti-slavery programme) and the National Victim Support Helpline.