Bishop of Sheffield Visits Snowdrop
Snowdrop hosted the Rt Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, Bishop of Sheffield, at our office on Thursday 7th December. As Bishop of Sheffield since 2017, Bishop Pete is responsible for the care of parishes and clergy across South Yorkshire and part of the East Riding. Earlier this year, Bishop Pete also became a member of the House of Lords.
Bishop Pete spent time with frontline staff at Snowdrop, who deliver casework support, counselling and community activities for survivors, to find out more about their roles. The Bishop was keen to learn more about modern slavery in South Yorkshire, the work Snowdrop does and how survivors can best be supported to recover from their experiences and rebuild their lives. During his visit, Bishop Pete also met and spent time with some of Snowdrop’s service users in an art workshop, which provided a first-hand insight into the support and sense of community that Snowdrop provides for survivors. Snowdrop's clients produced art on the theme of what Snowdrop means to them, which can be seen in the image at the top of this blog.
Rachel Medina, CEO of the Snowdrop Project, said: “We were so pleased to be able to show Bishop Pete around the Snowdrop Project’s offices. The Bishop was really interested in learning more about the work that we do and how recovery is different for every survivor that we support. Bishop Pete demonstrated a clear passion for equity and a strong commitment to the anti-slavery sector within Sheffield. His interest in raising awareness of modern slavery - and the gaps in support for survivors locally - was clear to see. We hope that Bishop Pete found his visit to Snowdrop engaging and insightful, and we look forward to working together in the future.”
Bishop Pete said: "I was delighted to learn more about the Snowdrop Project. It was a rich and valuable visit from my point of view. This is a project punching above its weight on behalf of some extremely vulnerable people, offering sustained support often in the wake of severe trauma. I came away uplifted by my conversations with staff and survivors and deeply grateful for the Project’s work".