Modern slavery statement

Introduction from the Chief Executive

The British Heart Foundation (“BHF”) is committed to improving our practices to combat slavery and human trafficking. We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and we strive to act ethically and with integrity in all of our business dealings and relationships to ensure that modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our own business or in any of our supply chains. We shall also ensure our approach and stance is clear with our partner organisations.

Organisation's structure

We are the nation's heart charity and the largest independent funder of cardiovascular research.

We are governed by a Board of Trustees who volunteer their time to help direct our work. They oversee our Directors who manage our 4,300 staff and 20,000+ volunteers across the whole charity. We have two wholly owned trading subsidiary undertakings.

Our policies on anti-slavery and human trafficking

We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business. Our Anti-slavery and Human Trafficking Policy reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all of our business relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in the BHF or our supply chains.

We will treat any breach of our Anti-slavery and Human Trafficking Policy very seriously. For example, any employee who breaches the policy will face disciplinary action, which could result in dismissal for misconduct or gross misconduct.

We are regularly reviewing and updating relevant policies and have processes in place to monitor and maintain our policies at regular intervals.

An updated Ethical Code of Practice has been created which has a broader scope than our previous Supplier Code of Practice. It covers any 3rd party company or individual that has a contractual agreement in place with the BHF and requires them to use the same principles in respect of their own supply chain.

Supplier adherence to our values and ethics

We continue reviewing our supplier sustainability assurance covering our High Risk suppliers and partners. This involves reviewing information from the suppliers as well as online whilst ensuring all documents are still valid.

BHF has identified merchandise sourcing, manufacturing supply chains, overseas logistics and certain labour-intensive service sectors as presenting elevated modern slavery risks. These areas therefore receive enhanced due diligence and monitoring.

All new suppliers, contractors and partners are required to sign our updated Ethical Code of Practice, which is referred to as standard in our contracts. Our Sustainability assurance risk assessment, which incorporates Modern Slavery now forms part of our onboarding process for new suppliers that are in the higher risk areas.

Our New Goods Team visit key suppliers across the world as well as implement local specialist audits on their entire supply base.

Both Fundraising and Commercial Partnership teams have a documented Ethical Framework which applies when onboarding a new partner and is refreshed annually for current partners. This process requires appropriate due diligence to be carried out, which highlights any concerns across a range of areas and ensures Modern Slavery challenges are in line with our zero tolerance approach to approving new partners.

Modern slavery awareness was reinforced through procurement, commercial and fundraising teams during the reporting period. Additional targeted training has been scheduled for colleagues involved in supplier selection and management.

Our Code of Practice is being reviewed this year to re-confirm and highlight our expectations of suppliers and partners.

Our approach to Sustainability is independently assessed annually with any recommendations implemented.

We will regularly assess the effectiveness of all actions, to ensure that they meet our objectives, and to determine whether further steps are required.

BHF’s continued commitment

We recognise the importance of maintaining constant vigilance to identify and address any issues associated with slavery and human trafficking in the BHF and throughout our supply chains. We are committed to continuing to enhance our capacity to identify, prevent and mitigate any actual or potential risks in these areas. This includes communications through various channels to internal staff and also the ability to report concerns through our Serious Concerns & Whistleblowing process.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54 (Part 6) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It has been approved by the Board of Trustees and is signed by Dr Charmaine Griffiths, the charity’s Chief Executive.