Raising Awareness on Modern Slavery with Jillian Alexander

Episode 11.1 - Jillian Alexander podcast transcript

Intro

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Season 11 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast, social impact stories from Manchester. I'm your host, Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe, and I'm so glad you're listening to my podcast today.

[00:00:22] This season, I'm proud to collaborate once more with the Spirit of Manchester Awards to highlight some of this year's incredible nominees. They are personal stories of care, courage and commitment told in the voices of the people working quietly and passionately behind the scenes in our communities.

[00:00:34] Every Tuesday, I'll bring you thoughtful conversations that explore what drives these change makers, the impact they've made and the lessons they've learned along the way. I hope you find their stories as moving and as meaningful as I did.

[00:00:49] You can listen to the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, or my website www.meetthemancunian.co.uk. Let's discover the heart of Manchester, one story at a time.

Guest Introduction: Jillian Alexander

[00:01:02] Passionate about tackling modern slavery. We hear from Jillian Alexander, Founder, Unbound Program and nominee Inspiring Campaign.

[00:01:12] In Jillian's own words:

[00:01:14] Jillian Alexander: The main mission of Unbound programme is to raise awareness of modern slavery so that people are equipped in societies and they'll know how to spot the signs and report it here.

[00:01:25] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much, Jillian, for joining me today.

[00:01:28] Jillian Alexander: Thank you so much for having me, Deepa, how are you?

[00:01:31] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I'm good. It's been a long day at work, but I'm really excited about us having time together today. I've been looking forward to this conversation.

[00:01:39] Jillian Alexander: Absolutely, me too.

Jillian's Journey and Inspiration

[00:01:41] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: What first inspired your connection to the Manchester community? Is there a particular moment that started this journey?

[00:01:48] Jillian Alexander: Firstly, I have been volunteering from as young as I can remember, and one of my recent roles was a first responder. Where I would interview modern slavery survivors and submit applications on their behalf to the Home Office, which would be later evaluated. And during that particular role, I realised there were so many gaps and so many challenges faced by these victims.

And I was put onto a particular group, the Medaille Trust, which provides a programme for modern slavery survivors in Manchester. It's called the Moving On project where survivors would gain support to reintegrate in society successfully. So I've reached out to them, and I started my voluntary work.

Challenges and Solutions in Modern Slavery

[00:02:37] Jillian Alexander: While communicating with these individuals, I've realised that there were shortages or there were issues with them gaining employment and skills development was an issue.

[00:02:49] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: This is really interesting. And thank you so much for telling me about your passion for volunteering from a young age. Like you, this has been a interest from maybe about 10 or 12 years old, and also then your work as a first responder, helping people who are survivors of modern slavery.

[00:03:10] Tell us about how your journey with the Unbound program began and what does your organisation do?

[00:03:16] Jillian Alexander: Unbound Program is a community interest company that provides upskilling courses and coaching for modern slavery survivors in Manchester in a trauma informed environment. And our mission is to raise awareness of modern slavery and empower survivors to rebuild their lives with dignity and independence. We are committed to accelerating employability, reducing dependency, and social isolation by providing support, training, and opportunities needed for a brighter future.

[00:03:54] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much. And it sounds like such important work because not just have they been like you said, survivors of modern slavery, but then they want to find a way to rebuild their future and to find productive ways to skill themselves, but then still be sensitively treated. Like you said, that being trauma sensitive is really important.

[00:04:16] I'll come back to Unbound programme in a minute, but what does being nominated for the Spirit of Manchester Awards and the nominee for Inspiring Campaign mean to you and the Unbound program?

Impact of the Unbound Programme

[00:04:28] Jillian Alexander: It's such an honour, to be honest, and of course, going into this path to support and assist modern slavery survivors. I was not thinking about being a nominee or potentially receiving our award, it's all about giving back to community. I think Manchester is such a beautiful city and, one of the key goals of the Manchester City Council is to have a more skilled city. It's all about that particular goal of Manchester being a more highly skilled city.

[00:05:03] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: What are some of the toughest moments you've had in this journey, and how did you get through them?

[00:05:08] Jillian Alexander: I would say one of the toughest, I think for persons who have who have a vision, and for me that would've been going forward with this community interest company. Not everyone would believe in what you are passionate about or they may not believe in your mission or your vision, but I think one of the toughest things was to do everything on my own initially. But I think once you believe in yourself, others would eventually believe in you. And I went forward, I registered the company, I started my week, and now I have volunteers. We have directors on board, so we are moving forward.

[00:05:47] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I like that about having to consider the fact that maybe you need to first show your belief and show your vision, and then people will come, volunteers will come, directors or trustees will get involved.

[00:06:01] Can you share a bit about the impact of the work that you're doing?

[00:06:04] Jillian Alexander: Firstly, I would like to say that modern slavery is an emergency. It's affecting 500 million people globally. In the United Kingdom, 136,000 persons are impacted, and this would involve forced labour, servitude, human trafficking. And it's happening right under our noses, and we have no idea what's going on.

[00:06:31] And I recently published a handbook. It's a modern slavery handbook, and this would be available in our libraries in Manchester. So it's called the Unbound Handbook. So it's a modern slavery guide. And within that handbook, you would find two particular stories of individuals I would've worked with, survivors, in other words.

[00:06:53] And one of the stories would be a woman, she was a survivor of servitude and, although she has received support from other, she still faced issues with employment. So, she was a service user of Unbound program where she underwent the beauty course. And she's now going forward with her own entrepreneurship business where she has her own clients. It's such a beautiful story to see that she has taken control of her life and she's able to have a livelihood now.

[00:07:31] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is a really lovely story and also it's great to hear about the handbook. We'll come back to that in the end when we talk about resources and it'd be great to talk about where people can find out more.

Addressing Myths and Raising Awareness

[00:07:43] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Are there any common myths about your work or the voluntary sector that you might want to clear up on this podcast.

[00:07:51] Jillian Alexander: Would say that one of the myths is that slavery is a thing of the past. I hear it a lot in prevalent times where people think that slavery is not a thing, but in fact it is quite prevalent, and it is rampant in our societies. Modern slavery is as close as the shirt in our backs and, it's so important that we understand the signs of modern slavery and report it.

[00:08:19] There are helplines to report. It's free, it's confidential, it's open 24 by 7, and you could potentially save a life. So one of the main mission of Unbound programme is to raise awareness of modern slavery so that people are equipped in societies and they'll know how to spot the signs and report it here.

[00:08:40] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you, and I hope the podcast listeners can help with that. Thank you so much for sharing how important it is and to clarify that while we may think it's a way of the past, it's actually still prevalent. Like you said, there's 136,000 people experiencing modern slavery in the UK.

Advice for Community Involvement

[00:09:00] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: What's your go-to piece of advice for listeners keen to support their community? How should they get started?

[00:09:07] Jillian Alexander: I would say just get started. If you have a passion about something, I would say go forward. And there are so many different organisations or community groups, so where you could get involved in and support. So if you're not one to be a founder as myself, you can support initiatives, you can support organisations that are making a difference in your community. I would definitely say get involved.

[00:09:34] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much. That's a great tip.

[00:09:36] Is there something I haven't asked you about that you would want to share with listeners?

[00:09:41] Jillian Alexander: Absolutely. So Unbound programme is growing and quickly, and we are open to have volunteers involved because we do work in two different locations in Manchester. So if you are interested, we are open to any skills. If you are into IT, if you are into fundraising or if you just want to come out to our workshops and support, we truly appreciate it.

[00:10:07] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That's a great shout out and I hope listeners do respond. It sounds such a great cause to be supporting.

Signature Questions and Personal Insights

[00:10:13] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I'll now move us to the signature questions I ask all my guests. So the first one for you, if Manchester's community spirit could be bottled up, what would you say is its secret ingredient?

[00:10:24] Jillian Alexander: I would say the people. We are big hearted. Big spirited. And I think that is what makes Manchester lovely people, no matter who you meet, it is just a beautiful nurturing spirit that you encounter. And, I think, that's why I'm so proud to be of Manchester. And I'm so proud to be given back as well because I think we are all parts of that wheel that keeps everything moving.

[00:10:56] Manchester is such an amazing city. If you haven't visited here, you have to at some point. The people are what makes the city. We are all parts of this wheel that keeps the city moving. So I would truly say that the people are the spirit of the city.

[00:11:17] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I can definitely resonate with that, and I'm sure most of our listeners who have experienced Manchester before would also resonate. People are really warm, bighearted, willing to help. And willing to challenge if required in a very Mancunian way.

[00:11:33] Jillian Alexander: Exactly.

[00:11:34] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: If you could build a Manchester Community Hall of Fame, who is the first person you'd induct into this Hall of Fame and what would their plaque say?

[00:11:44] Jillian Alexander: I'll definitely say Diane Oxberry. She has been known to be an English broadcaster and she has been a long serving TV and radio presenter for BBC Northwest. She's well known and such a well-respected person. She did pass away in 2019. I believe but she has been such an inspiration, especially for women in Manchester.

[00:12:12] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I am looking her up as we are speaking and she does sound very inspiring and actually, there's a Diane Oxberry trust as well where you can get involved. And what will her plaque say on that, in that Manchester Community Hall of Fame?

[00:12:28] Jillian Alexander: It would say inspirational. It would say woman of the century.

[00:12:36] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That's beautiful. Woman of the century. Just really lovely and I will definitely read up a little bit more about her. Unfortunately, I only moved to the UK in 2020, so I hadn't heard about her, but like you said, she's inspirational.

[00:12:52] What's a Made in Manchester moment you won't forget? Something that could only have happened here.

[00:12:58] Jillian Alexander: A Made in Manchester moment. The only thing I could actually think about is like the spirit behind the football. So I know my husband is a football fan. Just being together and the beautiful spirit around the matches are quite unforgettable.

[00:13:17] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I am not a football fan, but I have been to the Football Museum and I do understand. They call it the beautiful game, isn't it? There is probably something there for the football fans and of course Manchester's very associated with football.

[00:13:32] Looking back, what's the most valuable lesson either your life or your work has taught you?

[00:13:38] Jillian Alexander: One valuable lesson that, my life or my work would've taught me is to never give up. I think in life we face so many different challenges, but it's so important to never lose track of the goal and our vision. And I think for anyone who's listening today, if you are on a mission and you feel. You feel that you can't go forward anymore? Just think about the purpose and just know that you can achieve anything that you put your mind to. Don't ever lose sight of that.

[00:14:13] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I like that very much. Like you, I think very strongly about purpose, and I feel if you have that clear purpose in your work, in your volunteering and everything you do, it's keeps you going through those hard times. So really good piece of advice.

[00:14:30] So our final question is, what's the best way for people to connect with you to learn more about your work and also where can they find you on your website, social media, what resources are at there.

[00:14:43] Jillian Alexander: We are quite active on Instagram. Instagram is where it's at the moment. So you can reach us at Unbound. So that's UN dot BOU nd. So that's our Instagram page. We are also on Facebook, LinkedIn, and that's unbound program. If you would like to. Send us an email. It'll be info@unboundprogram.org.uk.

[00:15:10] Our website is currently under construction, but if you do check back within the next month, it should be up and running again. And that's unbound program.org.uk and we do have our Unbound program, modern Slavery Handbook, which would be in libraries in Manchester, and that should be the latter half of September.

[00:15:45] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much, Jillian. This has been such a lovely conversation. Great to know all the good work you're doing, but also what personally motivates you to keep going and that clear purpose.

[00:15:55] Jillian Alexander: Thank you so much. It was an absolute pleasure, Deepa. and I just want to say continue what you do and this is truly inspirational. And it was a pleasure to be on with you today here.

[00:16:08] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you. We loved having you on the Mancunian podcast and thank you for the very kind words.

[00:16:14] Jillian Alexander: Thank you so much.

Outro

[00:16:16] Thank you for listening to the Meet the Mancunian podcast. I hope today's episode gave you a deeper appreciation of the powerful work happening right here in Manchester.

[00:16:26] It's been a real honour for me to feature these Spirit of Manchester Award nominees and share their stories with you. If something you heard today resonated with you, please share the episode or leave a review, it really helps other people find the podcast.

[00:16:43] I'd love to hear from you. Visit www.meetthemancunian.co.uk or connect with me at social media @MeettheMancunian on Instagram, Facebook, and Blue Sky. And @ MeettheManunianpodcast on YouTube.

[00:16:59] Until next time, keep championing kindness, connection, and community. Together we can make our world just a little bit brighter.

[00:17:08] Thank you.