The Snowdrop Project

Who we are

About the Snowdrop Project

The Snowdrop Project is a Sheffield-based charity which supports and empowers survivors of modern slavery and exploitation in South Yorkshire to recover from their pasts and rebuild their futures.

Snowdrop provides holistic, long-term, community-based support to survivors so that they can reach a place of independence. Our approach covers all key support needs, including independent living, physical and mental wellbeing, community engagement,education and employment. We achieve this holistic support through our casework programme, which is based on social work principles, our in-house counselling service, house renovations and community activities.

At Snowdrop Project, we are passionate about using our direct service delivery experience to inform policy campaigns and best practice recommendations. Initially, our primary campaign was to ensure that post-NRM support was accessible to all modern slavery survivors. After eight years, we saw the development of Reach-In support, which is a step in the right direction. We continue to work towards fair and equal access to tailored support for all survivors regardless of circumstances, age, nationality etc. 

Tackling modern slavery cuts across many sectors: policing, local authority, public health, immigration, education, and mental health, to name but a few. Necessary policy and practice change cannot happen in silo. We have high regard for partnership working, and love being part of the movements and collectives. 

"Long-term support is crucial for any survivor's recovery. Without it, you may as well not have been rescued at all." – Sabah, Snowdrop Client.

Our culture and values

We value the individual

Our clients

Our support is based around the individual needs, strengths, likes, history and hopes of each survivor. Support length and design is based on the individual.

Our volunteers

We value the unique input of every person who volunteers, whether they have sewing skills, a passion for mums and toddlers, professional training in social care or simply time to give.

Our staff

We create a safe atmosphere where staff can be themselves and talk about how they feel and think. We aim to create a supportive environment that considers individual wellbeing.

We are committed to the oppressed

Empowerment is the essential value behind every action of the Snowdrop Project. Making decisions and choices for ourselves is something we take for granted, but for many of the people we work with, this basic right has been stolen. Snowdrop supports those who have had their freedom taken away; we advocate for social change and we give voice to those still trapped in modern slavery today.

We work in partnership

One organisation cannot end modern slavery. We recognise the benefit of working with local authorities, the government and other NGOs so that as many people as possible are empowered to live new lives. We are committed to co-working and sharing knowledge to develop the most effective support for survivors, in the UK and beyond.

We value integrity and transparency

We want everyone who comes in to contact with us to know where they stand and how we operate. We are committed to transparency in our accounting, HR and operations. We want every aspect of our operations - from our volunteer t-shirts, to our banking - to reflect our stance against modern slavery.

We are motivated by God’s heart

The Snowdrop Project is founded on the values and vision of Jesus, who went to those who were marginalised and in need to bring comfort and restoration. We are not a proselytising organisation, and our staff and volunteers come from a variety of faith and non-faith backgrounds. But we all believe that no person should be left isolated or vulnerable to exploitation, and are committed to demonstrating real compassion to the people and communities we encounter.

We value innovation and best practice

The Snowdrop Project is proud to be one of the first charities to provide long-term support in the UK. We are committed to doing this to a high standard through a culture of shared learning and development. We want to continue to improve the support we offer, particularly from the input of beneficiaries. We also value learning from other services, policy makers and academics about ideas we can trial to complement our work. We recognise the importance of research and seek to provide ongoing evaluation of the impact of our service.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

We are committed to inclusion, diversity and equity, within the organisation as well as championing societal movement towards inclusion. Our policy is reviewed annually.

We are also committed to being trauma-informed across the organisation for the benefit of all staff, volunteers and clients.