At The Black Stork Charity and its wholly owned subsidiary BS Stanford Limited (together the “Group”), we strive to operate as a responsible organisation. Our values and our culture guide us to operate ethically and transparently, and integral to this is our commitment to full and active support for the aims of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Slavery, human trafficking and child labour and any other form of human rights abuse have no place in our organisation and we recognise the important part we can play in helping to ensure that our activities and supply chains are free from such abuse. We believe that by creating a culture of awareness within our own organisation and by actively requiring and supporting transparency and preventative measures through our business relationships, we can help prevent such abuses.
The Black Stork Charity is a UK company limited by guarantee (not having share capital) and a registered charity in England and Wales. The Charity is fundamentally concerned with rehabilitation, and over the last 9 years has been implementing its charitable objects through the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC) Programme. The Programme has delivered a specialist clinical rehabilitation capability for the Armed Forces (the DMRC). During 2019 the Charity also began its move from a construction phase (creating the DMRC) into an influencer phase – working to enable the creation of the new National Rehabilitation Centre (on the same site as the DMRC) and promoting excellence in rehabilitation for everyone.
The principal activity of BS Stanford Limited is to act as Managing Contractor for the design, management and construction of the DMRC on behalf of The Black Stork Charity. During 2019 activity reduced significantly as construction neared completion, and turnover reduced significantly. The group does not therefore fulfil the conditions requiring a Modern Slavery Statement to be prepared but has nonetheless considered the risks of modern slavery within our activities and supply chains, and will continue to do so, in order that any such risk which arises can be identified and mitigated.
The Group’s activities take place in the United Kingdom and as at 31 December 2019 the Group employed 5 people, all of whom were located in the United Kingdom. We consider the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking occurring within the Group’s workforce to be negligible given its size, skills and professional nature. Comprehensive human resource procedures and background checks are carried out prior to any appointments, and our personnel are paid above the relevant living wage.
Supply Chains In 2019 the Group continued to work directly with one ‘Main Works Contractor’ (responsible for development and construction in connection with the DMRC) and a few smaller suppliers (primarily the professional team of project managers, cost consultant, engineers and architects).
We recognise that the risk of slavery and human trafficking may be higher in our supply chains where personnel are not directly employed by the Group. Suppliers that the Group worked directly with in 2019 were subject to our procurement process before they were engaged. This included riskbased due diligence enquiries designed to provide the Group with assurance of the suppliers’ regulatory compliance where appropriate. The Main Works Contractor, which sourced a significant number of sub-contractors for completion of the outstanding works and defects from the development and construction work, has indicated that it engages in a number of activities with their own supply chain to raise awareness and reduce the risk of modern slavery, including carrying out regular audits of its ‘tier one’ suppliers. It also carries out appropriate training for personnel responsible for bringing agency workers and sub-contractors on to construction sites, and for relevant procurement staff.
Construction work (and therefore the activity of the Main Works Contractor) reduced significantly during the year as the DMRC reached completion, further lessening the risk of modern slavery within our supply chains. During 2019, the Group held meetings with senior staff from the Main Works Contractor at regular intervals to discuss any issues arising from completion of the outstanding works and defects and inspect the site (as the Group has done since the start of construction of the DMRC in 2015). The Main Works Contractor is a UK based organisation subject to the Modern Slavery Act and its most recent annual Modern Slavery Statement (published in August 2019) continued to confirm the activities that it undertakes to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking in its business and supply chain.
As mentioned above the Charity is moving away from construction into an influencer phase in the field of rehabilitation, and there are no plans to embark on further major construction or other labour-intensive projects.
This Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement has been approved by the Boards of Directors of The Black Stork Charity and BS Stanford Limited.
Janet Morrison
Chief Executive Officer, The Black Stork Charity
07/04 2020