Imagining Modern Abolition | Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School

We were thrilled to run a school trip for Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School at the end of November. This school is a committed supporter of Women At The Well, a London-based charity specialising in care for women affected by sexual exploitation.

We were asked to teach a group of lower sixth students (16-17 years old) about modern slavery in the UK today. They had all studied the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in history, and many are studying Politics, History or Sociology for A Level. So we thought to look to the past before looking to the future.

With the kind support of Bishop Alastair Redfern (The Clewer Initiative | The Clewer Initiative) we were able to take the students into Westminster Abbey to see memorials to the abolitionists of the 18th and 19th Centuries – the likes of Wilberforce and Pitt. Our brilliant tour guide encouraged us to reflect on how these figures are remembered, and crucially, who is missing from the collection of figures celebrated for ending the slave trade.

We then followed to St Margaret’s Church next door, where there are plaques to two abolitionists who were themselves enslaved: Olaudah Equiano (Olaudah Equiano: The Remarkable Life of an African Writer and Abolitionist - Black History Month 2025) and Ignatius Sancho (Ignatius Sancho: The Composer - Black History Month 2025). The students reflected on their invaluable roles in the fight for abolition, and yet their erasure from the majority of accounts. No doubt, there are many more whose contributions were essential, but whose names we will never know.

The afternoon concluded with a workshop on the realities of human trafficking and modern slavery today, reflecting on how this compares and contrasts with the historic slave trade. We asked the students to consider what skills the abolitionists of the 18th and 19th centuries had to employ in their quest for abolition, and how those might be used today in the fight against modern slavery. We thought about how we could learn from those we study in history, and what we might do differently, namely the inclusion of a more diverse set of voices in our movement, and listening to the voices of people who have experienced exploitation themselves.

The students came up with a genuinely inspiring set of ideas for action as individuals and as a school going forwards, which would cement their commitment to the fight against trafficking, and their role in the modern abolition movement.

Nicholas Breakspear School will be fundraising for Woman At The Well this term, and we look forward to following their ongoing work on this issue.