£100,000 donation to Sheffield charity for slavery victims

City Hearts also provided 400 routers and 400 sim cards - with five months of unlimted free internet - to clients in South Yorkshire and across the UK.

The donations helped modern slavery survivors access services and entertainment during lockdown and their children to access online lessons during the pandemic.

City Hearts has helped 3,000 people since launching in 2005. It offers safe houses and specialist teams to victims of trafficking. It also runs programmes for ex-offenders.

Phill Clayton, head of development at City Hearts, said: “Many of our clients face digital poverty as they cannot afford to purchase laptops or tablets, and even if they can, they are then unable to pay for ongoing Wi-Fi.

“This has been particularly difficult during the pandemic, as many of our clients have been unable to do their food shopping online, access crucial online counselling, medical services and schooling for their children.

“We are so grateful to Barclays for this donation.”

Nigel Higgins, Barclays chairman, said Covid had created an unprecedented social and economic impact in the UK, with many experiencing greater hardship due to the crisis.

He added: “Incredible charities have been playing a vital role in the UK’s response to the pandemic, ensuring urgent help reaches those most in need of support.

“We hope that by partnering with City Hearts and many other charities across the UK, we can ensure that as many people as possible in the communities in which we live and work are supported through this crisis.”

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Thank you. Nancy Fielder, editor.