The Freedom Bus Hits Oldham!

Between 10am and 12noon, on Saturday 18 October, Anti-Slavery Day, the ‘Freedom Bus’ will call at Oldham Central Tram Stop.

Anti-Slavery Day is an opportunity to raise awareness of the fact over 49.6 million people in the world today, and an estimated 136,000 people in the UK, are trapped in conditions of modern slavery. It was created by the Anti-Slavery Day Act.

This year, local organisations are coming together to bring the ‘Freedom Bus’ to Oldham. This is a bus that is hosted by the Pan-Lancashire Modern Slavery Partnership, which is liveried up with the Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helplines number. The team will be speaking with Oldham residents directly, raising awareness of modern slavery and human trafficking and encouraging everyone to talk about the issue, have conversations, share concerns and report if necessary.  

In both 2024/25, there were 50 enquiries recorded by Greater Manchester Police related to modern slavery and human trafficking in Oldham, with criminal exploitation being the highest reported exploitation type, followed by labour and sexual exploitation. Children are more likely to be reported as victims of criminal exploitation, with adults reported most as victims of labour and sexual exploitation. The 50 enquiries in Oldham are compared to a high of 63 in Bolton and a low of 18 in Trafford across the two years.