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 3,700 staff and 20,400 volunteers across the whole charity. We have four wholly owned trading subsidiary undertakings, one of which is dormant.
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
To date, 370 of our ongoing suppliers and partners were categorised as being a ‘higher’ Modern Slavery risk based on an assessment of their industry, location and other factors. We have worked with each of them to seek further assurances against a number of criteria, as well as independently review their approach and efforts.
All new suppliers, contractors and partners are required to sign our updated Ethical Code of Practice, which is referenced 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.
The next review of each supplier’s responses will be incorporated into a wider Supplier Engagement program this autumn, aligned to our Carbon Net Zero targets.
Our New Goods Team visit key suppliers across the world as well as implement local specialist audits on their entire supply base.
We are continuing to review our Textile suppliers and, as well as continuing the requirement for TRUST certification, aim to complete further reviews of supply chains in the next year.
Colleagues in key areas are regularly reminded of Modern Slavery challenges to help enable the identification of any concerns within our supply base. Face to face training is delivered to key internal contract owners to reinforce challenges and our responsibilities.
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.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths
Chief Executive
September 2024
Past modern slavery statements
BHF 2023 modern slavery statement
BHF 2022 modern slavery statement
BHF 2021 modern slavery statement
BHF 2020 modern slavery statement