Recently, SI Tenby’s programme action co-ordinator Dr. Anne Kelly was delighted to be invited to address the Kingsmoor Group of Women’s Institutes at their spring meeting in Summerhill Village Hall. This included WI Templeton, WI Kilgetty, WI Saundersfoot and WI Summerhill. Dr. Kelly was accompanied by fellow Tenby Soroptimists Mary Fleming and Lindsay Oeppen. The evening was organised by the Kingsmoor WI secretary, Joyce Lewis. Marilyn Davies, the Kingsmoor group treasurer, also helped to chair the event.

After the Kingsmoor group’s bbusiness meeting, Dr. Kelly took centre stage and gave the audience a detailed insight into SI Tenby’s on-going programme to combat modern slavery. She also outlined the Welsh Government’s awareness Training programme on modern slavery and human trafficking. She then briefly described the principal victims of human trafficking and the ways in which they could be identified and supported and the means by which the perpetrators of this despicable crime could be brought to justice.

Dr. Kelly subsequently gave out some frightening statistics. New research estimates there are between 10 and 13,000 potential victims of slavery in the UK. Dr. Kelly also made the audience aware of recent cases of trafficking and modern slavery in Wales, including Pembrokeshire, which provoked some thoughtful questions at the end of her talk.

It was next time to judge the competition. WI members had been asked to make a sentence out of the word slavery. There were some very effective and innovative entries, but the overall winner was Eileen Algate, a member of Summerhill WI, with her powerful response: ‘Slaves’ lives are valueless - emancipation removes yokes.’

Dr. Kelly would like to thank the Kingsmoor WI group, especially Joyce Lewis, Marilyn Davies and Kath Phillips, for their warm hospitality and interested response to her talk.

If anyone has suspicions that someone they know may be a victim of slavery, SI Tenby urge you to report it by calling 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or the modern slavery helpline on 0800 0121700. In addition, please visit our website at http://sigbi.tenby for further information about SI Tenby’s campaign to raise awareness of modern slavery.