Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Charities in the UK: Who Does What, and How to Choose
If you need help now: if you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999. For advice, or toreport a concern about modern slavery, call the Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline on 0800 0121 700. It is free, confidential, and open 24 hours a day.
The UK has a remarkable community of charities working against human trafficking and modern slavery, from national helplines to small local projects. If you are trying to work out who does what, or where a donation would do the most good, the number of names can be overwhelming.
This guide maps the landscape by role. One declaration of interest before we begin: Hope at Home, the charity behind this guide, is part of that landscape. We provide safe accommodation for survivors, and we will explain exactly where we fit alongside everyone else.
Human trafficking and modern slavery: two names, one crime
The two terms are often used interchangeably, and in the UK, they were brought together legally by the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Human trafficking describes the recruitment or movement of a person, by force, fraud or coercion, for the purpose of exploiting them.
Modern slavery is the umbrella term that also covers slavery, servitude, forced labour and other types of exploitation, which can happen without anyone being moved anywhere. The exploitation behind both takes several forms, including forced labour, criminal exploitation, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude.
The scale is significant and growing. In 2025, 23,411 potential victims were referred to the UK’s National Referral Mechanism, a 22 per cent increase on the previous year and the highestfigure since the system began in 2009 (Home Office, 2026).
The UK’s anti-slavery charities, by the role they play
Donations do the most good when they match the role you care about most. Here is the sector organised by function rather than by name recognition.
Emergency response and the national helpline
Unseen runs the UK’s Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline (08000 121 700) alongside safehouses and community support and works with businesses to address slavery in supply chains.
Finding people and freeing them
Hope for Justice combines investigation, advocacy and frontline support for survivors in the UK and internationally.
Justice and Care places specialist Victim Navigators inside police forces, sothat survivors are supported through investigations and prosecutions.
Government-contracted victim care
When a potential victim enters the National Referral Mechanism, support in England and Wales is delivered under a Home Office contract held by The Salvation Army, working through several subcontracted charities including Medaille Trust (the UK’s largest provider of safehouse beds)and Hestia (in London). Migrant Help leads victim support in Scotland and Northern Ireland.This statutory support is vital, but it is time limited, which creates the gap described further down this page.
Policy, research and prevention
Anti-Slavery International, founded in 1839 and the world’s oldest international human rights organisation, campaigns for systemic change. The Human Trafficking Foundation convenes the sector, coordinates working groups and publishes influential research. Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) researches the labour market conditions that allow exploitation to take root.
Specialist support for women
Ella’s provides safe homes and long-term support for women who have survived trafficking and exploitation. The Sophie Hayes Foundation, founded by a survivor, runs employability programmes that help women move into work and independence.
Long-term aftercare in the community
The Snowdrop Project in Sheffield pioneered long-term, community-based support for survivors after statutory services end, including casework, counselling and advocacy. We know their work well and expect to work alongside them in our new housing project in Sheffield.
Safe accommodation after the safehouse: where Hope at Home fits
Hope at Home exists for the moment government-funded support ends. Survivors can be given only days or weeks of notice to leave a safehouse, with nowhere to go, and a survivor facing homelessness is a survivor at risk of being exploited again. We respond in two ways. Our hosting scheme places survivors in the spare rooms of trained volunteer hosts. Our new housing pilot project is opening supported houses in 2027, 16 beds in total, and a priority for men, who make up around three quarters of referrals yet have only one dedicated safehouse outside the government contract (Human Trafficking Foundation, 2023). Hope at Home is aUK registered charity, number 1176802.
How to choose a modern slavery charity to donate to
Five checks will tell you most of what you need to know. First, check the register: every legitimate UK charity has a registered number you can look up on the Charity Commission website, with accounts attached. Second, ask what the organisation actually delivers, because raising awareness matters, but beds, caseworkers and helplines change lives directly. Third, look for outcomes rather than activity: the best charities can show you how survivors’ lives differ between arrival and the end of support. Fourth, ask how survivors themselves shape the work, from safeguarding standards to whether stories are only ever shared with genuine consent.Fifth, fund the gaps: government contracts fund the middle of a survivor’s journey, so voluntary donations achieve the most at the edges, in prevention and, above all, in what happens after statutory support ends.
The biggest gap in the system is a front door
Every charity in this guide would tell you the same uncomfortable truth: the UK is better at identifying victims than at giving them somewhere safe to live afterwards. Referrals reached a record 23,411 last year, while long-term accommodation has not kept pace. That is the gap Hope at Home was founded to close, one hosted room and one front door key at a time.
If this guide has helped you decide where to give, thank you on behalf of the whole sector. If our corner of the fight is the one that moves you, you can read exactly what a donation to Hope at Home does, or give now. For a conversation about a significant gift, contact our CEO, Jared Hodgson: jared@hopeathome.org.uk.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between human trafficking and modern slavery?
Human trafficking involves recruiting or moving a person in order to exploit them. Modern slavery is the broader term, covering trafficking as well as slavery, servitude and forced labour that can occur without movement. UK law brings them together under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
How do I report suspected modern slavery in the UK?
If someone is in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise call the Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline on 08000 121 700, or report through the helpline’s website. You do not need to be certain; the helpline’s advisers will help you assess your concern.
Which UK charities provide accommodation for survivors of modern slavery?
Within the government support system, safehouses are run by charities including Medaille Trust and Hestia under The Salvation Army’s contract. Outside and after that system, accommodation is provided by charities including Ella’s (for women) and Hope at Home, whose hosting scheme and housing pilot project focus on survivors leaving statutory support.
Are donations eligible for Gift Aid?
Donations to any UK registered charity qualify for Gift Aid if you are a UK taxpayer, adding 25 per cent to your gift at no cost to you.You can check each charity’s registered number on the Charity Commission website.
Do small monthly donations really help?
Yes, disproportionately so. Regular gifts let charities plan ahead, keep beds open and retain specialist staff. For most organisations in this guide, a reliable £10 a month is worth more than an occasional larger gift.
Hope at Home is a UK registered charity, number 1176802.
