Charity Family Modern Slavery Statement

Charity Family Modern Slavery Statement 2022/23

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (“GOSH Charity”) recognises that slavery and human trafficking are extremely serious human rights violations and cause for increasing concern throughout the world. This is especially relevant and worrying to us when this impacts the lives and wellbeing of children. As a result, it is important that we and our trading subsidiary (which together are the “Charity Family” and/or “We”) never find ourselves in a position where We are directly or indirectly facilitating slavery or human trafficking.

We continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to slavery and human trafficking, and are resolute to identify and eliminate this, or any elements of it, within our business and supply chain.

This Modern Slavery Statement (“Statement”) is made pursuant to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (“Act”) and constitutes the entire Statement for the Charity Family for the financial year following 31st March 2022, and builds upon the previous Statements:

Our organisation and business

GOSH Charity is a registered charity in England and Wales (registered charity number 1160024) and is registered as a company limited by guarantee (company number 09338724). GOSH Charity raises money to enable Great Ormond Street Hospital (“the Hospital”) to provide world-class care to children and to pioneer new treatments and cures for childhood illnesses. The support GOSH Charity provides to the Hospital is concentrated in four main areas: redevelopment and refurbishment, pioneering research, advanced medical equipment and support services including accommodation for patient families.

GOSH Charity uses a wholly-owned subsidiary company, Great Ormond Street International Promotions Limited (“GOSIPL”) (company number in England and Wales 02265303) to record its activity classed as trading, for example, the selling of GOSH Charity branded clothing and gifts.

On 31st March 2021, Sparks Charity, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of GOSH Charity and registered in England and Wales as a charity and company limited by guarantee and in Scotland as a registered charity, discontinued trading. On 18th January 2022 Sparks Charity was dissolved and subsequently added to the Register of Mergers by the Charity Commission.

Our supply chain

Our suppliers are predominantly UK-based and required to comply with UK legislation. We will continue to focus on how we engage with suppliers which operate in sectors and jurisdictions at a higher risk from slavery and human trafficking.

In line with the spirit of the Act (that organisations should adopt an approach of continuous improvement in relation to their actions to tackle slavery and human trafficking), and building upon our 2020/21 Statement, during the course of the 2021/22 financial year:

  1. All teams across the Charity Family that work directly with suppliers were provided with training to ensure they have an overall awareness of the Act and GOSH Charity’s Contracts Register, which enables the monitoring and reporting of our suppliers and their associated contracts; and
  2. Following an organisational restructure, the responsibilities for the audit programme was transferred to the Corporate Services team (formerly Governance, Legal and Compliance) which, amongst other benefits, assists with monitoring the effectiveness of steps the Charity Family are taking with respect to our zero-tolerance approach to slavery and human trafficking.

Our policies

We are committed to making all our staff aware of the Charity Family’s views in relation to slavery and human trafficking. The policies we have in place provide guidance on areas such as whistleblowing, procurement and safeguarding.

In addition, our policies continue to be provided to our suppliers on the basis that if We engage a supplier, it is expected that they, their employees and anyone they engage with, should comply with the principles set by the Charity Family.

Due diligence and risk management

We continue to undertake due diligence checks on prospective suppliers, and other third parties, as appropriate, with which the Charity Family associates itself, using a proportionate risk-based approach.

Looking forward

We understand the importance of being vigilant so that We can quickly identify and address any issues related to our activities associated with slavery and human trafficking. The Charity Family remains committed to continually developing and improving the protections We have in place and We will release an updated version of this Statement at least annually.

In addition, during the 2022/23 financial year We shall:

  1. Continue training on the Act and the Contracts Register especially as new staff join the Charity Family; and
  2. Conduct a refresh of the Charity Family’s Procurement Policy. This will aid continued compliance with the Act and raise staff awareness of slavery and human trafficking risks associated with our business and supply chain.

Approval

This Statement is approved by:

Anne Bulford's signature

Anne Bulford

Chair, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity

17th May 2022