Hope for Justice launches in Scotland
Hope for Justice has expanded its operations into Scotland for the first time with the appointment of William Guild as Training and Development Officer, based in Edinburgh.
William is a recently retired Detective Superintendent with Police Scotland, with significant experience in partnership working in the public protection arena and as a senior investigator and critical decision maker in complex child protection and vulnerable adult investigations.
He will bring Hope for Justice’s successful and award-winning training model to frontline organisations in Scotland likely to come into contact with victims of trafficking, ensuring they know how to spot the signs of modern slavery, how to make appropriate referrals and how best to conduct investigations in this complex area.
The news represents the latest milestone in a year of growth for Hope for Justice in the UK, which has seen our investigative teams based in regional Hubs in England expand their sphere of operations into more counties than ever before, working with police forces and agencies all across England.
Neil Wain, European Programme Director for Hope for Justice (pictured, right, with Chief Constable Dee Collins of West Yorkshire Police), said: “William brings a great deal of experience and knowledge, which will help us forge closer links with statutory and non-statutory organisations in Scotland.
“We are looking forward to having the ability to partner with and support those agencies on the ground who are already tackling this crime, and having a member of the team who can link in with our groups and volunteers who have already been working hard to raise awareness.”
William Guild said: “I’m excited to begin my work with Hope for Justice, it’s a great organisation doing important work. I’m looking forward to working closely with frontline teams and police officers across Scotland to tackle modern slavery using our proven, multi-disciplinary methods.”
In 2015-16, Hope for Justice trained 3,236 frontline professionals across the UK, and rescued 117 victims as a result of referrals made by individuals and agencies who we had trained to identify human trafficking.
The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 was unanimously passed by the Scottish Parliament in October 2015 and received Royal Assent in November 2015. The first provisions came into force on 31 May 2016 and implementation of the rest of the Act is ongoing.
