The We Feel Safe programme
We are pleased to have been funded by the National Lottery Community Fund to deliver the We
Feel Safe (WFS) programme. will provide intensive, holistic one-to-one support for at least 100
migrant people affected by modern-day slavery and labour exploitation in Sunderland, helping them
move from crisis and vulnerability towards safety, stability, and long-term empowerment. Delivered
by a migrant-led charity with experienced staff and an established track record, the programme will
act as a single, trusted point of contact where survivors do not have to repeatedly retell traumatic
experiences to access help. It will particularly focus on those who have fallen through gaps in
mainstream provision or exited existing schemes.
WFS will deliver practical support across the wider determinants of health, including immigration
advice at Level 1, housing applications, benefit and entitlement claims, and tailored employability
support to identify strengths, access training, and progress into work. Alongside this, specialist
counselling and group wellbeing activities delivered with Revivor will address trauma, mental health
and emotional resilience, ensuring survivors can begin to recover rather than simply cope. Most
clients are expected to receive 20–40 hours of support and to engage in more than one strand of
provision, enabling holistic plans that recognise how issues such as immigration status, housing,
income, and wellbeing are interdependent.
WFS will also create meaningful opportunities for survivors to influence systems and services
through an active Project Steering Group (PSG) of people with lived experience, and through co-
produced research and advocacy. At least 30 clients will be supported to identify problems in the
systems that affect them, develop solutions, and share these with local and regional stakeholders
such as the Integrated Care Board, the Mayoral Combined Authority, and migration networks.
Survivors will help shape the project itself, contribute to external evaluations, and participate in
wider influencing work such as consultations and public events, strengthening their confidence, skills
and civic participation.
As a result, the programme expects 78 survivors to report improved circumstances across the wider
determinants of health, including better wellbeing, finances, housing, and immigration security, with
at least 20 progressing into training or education and 15 into paid work. Survivors will report feeling
safer, more in control of their lives, and better able to navigate complex systems, building on current
evidence where clients have already shown improved wellbeing, financial stability, housing, and
reduced risk of further exploitation through ICOS’ approach. At community level, the project will
increase migrant-led voice, reduce destitution and homelessness risk, and contribute to more
responsive local services for people affected by modern slavery and labour exploitation.
More information:
Michal Chantkowski, programme manager, michal@icos.org.uk