Rethink Mental Illness Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement 2022 - 2023

Rethink Mental Illness is a charity for people severely affected by mental illness. Our mission is to lead the way to a better quality of life for everyone severely affected by mental illness. We have a dual role; a campaigning organisation that works directly with carers and people severely affected by mental illness to shape the health system, public attitudes and the wider social and economic environment. We also provide services directly to people severely affected by mental illness.

Our commitments

We are committed to protecting and respecting human rights and the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It has a zero-tolerance approach towards modern slavery. We are committed to ensuring there is no modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains, or any part of our business. We do not enter into business with any organisation, which knowingly supports, or is found to be involved in slavery, servitude, or forced or compulsory labour.

Our recruitment and people management processes are designed to ensure that all prospective employees are legally entitled to work in the UK and to safeguard employees from any abuse or coercion. We recognise that volunteers, being unpaid, might be vulnerable to exploitation.

Our business and supply chains

We provide services across England that support and empower people to live independently in their communities. We help people to learn more about specific mental health illnesses and treatments, understand their rights and access support. We provide local peer support groups to help people living with mental illness and their carers. We campaign on a local and national level to ensure people severely affected by mental illness are listened to, treated fairly, and have access to the health and social care services they need.

We work with a wide range of organisations, including other charities, private businesses, the NHS, and local authorities, to create communities that care for the wide range of people we support.

Our objectives are as follows:

• We will drive the transformation of care and support for all people severely affected by mental illness, particularly aiding the successful roll-out of the community mental health framework.
• We will ensure that the services and activities we develop are led and shaped by experts by experience.
• We will develop new and innovative partnerships to create wider social change especially with community organisations that enable us to reach underserved groups of the population.

When working to achieve our objectives, we are mindful that the people we support may at times be vulnerable and at risk from abuse or coercion. Our practice, supported by the policies listed below, underpins our commitment to the eradication of modern slavery in our business and supply chains.

For further details, see our Accounts and Funding.

Our policies in relation to the Modern Slavery Act 2015

We are committed to opposing modern slavery in all its forms and as such have in place a Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking policy.

We also have a number of complementary policies that support our commitment to eradicating Modern Slavery, such as:

• Whistleblowing Policy
• Safeguarding Adults Policy
• Safeguarding Children Policy
• Equality and Diversity
• Recruitment and Selection Policy
• Bullying and Harassment Policy
• Code of Conduct
• Volunteering Policy

Due diligence

We engage a range of suppliers from SMEs to large corporations, the majority of which are UK based. We aim to build relationships with our suppliers to ensure they comply with our values and that they are aware of our commitment to protect human rights. We expect our suppliers to comply with the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act. If a supplier fails to adequately remediate the issue, the relationship would be re-evaluated and if necessary, terminated. Where potential modern slavery impacts are identified within a contract requirement, we will work with our suppliers to monitor and manage performance in relation to these risks.

Training

Slavery and Human Trafficking form part of the charity’s Safeguarding Adults and Children training programmes.

This statement has been approved by the Executive Team for the financial year ending 31 March 2023. This statement will be reviewed and updated every year.