Dr Anne Kelly, who has worked tirelessly for the last fifteen years to help raise awareness of modern slavery has been recognised with a Queen’s Birthday Honour.

Seventy-eight-year-old Dr. Kelly, who who lives in Wooden, near Saundersfoot, will receive a British Empire Medal (BEM) it has been announced.

Having worked with the close support of the Tenby Soroptimist International club, where she was president in 2006-07, Dr. Kelly’s modern slavery campaign was taken up by SI Wales South and her work has been recognised by the United Nations.

The Tenby club received an international Soroptimist award for their work, and as a result, 15 Soroptimist clubs across Wales made modern slavery the focus of a regional project.

A former lecturer in social policy at Swansea University, Dr. Kelly is the Soroptimist International Wales South representative on the Dyfed Powys anti-slavery Forum which meets quarterly at Police HQ in Carmarthen.

Dr. Kelly who continues to work for the cause said it was quite a shock to find out she would be receiving a BEM but a ‘very nice surprise’.

Recently Dr. Kelly, accompanied by fellow SI Tenby members Mary Fleming and Lindsay Oeppen, was delighted to present a cheque to Jasmin Ahmed, the Multi-Agency Risk assessment Conference (MARAC) co-ordinator for Wales, at the Bawso offices in Swansea.

The money was raised partly from the sale of white ribbons, organised by SI Tenby Programme Action officers Wendy Bell and Iris Davies, at an event held in the Regency Hall, Saundersfoot during Hate Crime week. The remainder came from donations from other club members who were unable to attend at the time.

Black and Asian Women Step Out (Bawso), is an all Wales voluntary organisation and Welsh Government Accredited Support Provider, providing specialist services to victims and Black and Middle Eastern Women (BAME) affected or at risk of domestic abuse and all forms of violence, including Female Genital Mutilation, Forced Marriage, Honour Based Violence, Modern Day Slavery and Human Trafficking.

Jasmin Ahmed was very pleased to receive the donation and explained how Bawso delivers specialist services through a number of projects which support over 4,000 people every year in Wales.

Whilst professionals, such as health visitors, schools and social workers, can identify people in crisis and issue them with a food bank voucher, they can only receive a food bank parcel of three days’ food from their local food bank. Bawso is therefore always pleased to receive donations of non-perishable food and basic toiletries to help support the many women they assist.

Dr Kelly hopes to involve other organisations in the community, such as the Women’s Institute and the Mothers’ Union, in providing practical support to Bawso.

SI Tenby has worked tirelessly for the past twelve years to raise awareness of modern slavery and support organisations such as Bawso and the Salvation Army, the first providers for the victims of this heinous and ever-increasing crime.

Please visit website at http://sigbi.org/tenby for more details about their work.