Abstract

This report presents interim findings from the evaluation of the Back in Control 2 (BiC2) project. A continuation of the BiC project, the BiC2 project focuses on identifying and supporting black and minoritised adults in Sunderland and the surrounding area, who have been affected by labour exploitation (LE) and modern-day slavery (MDS), to rebuild their lives. The BiC2 project is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, until August 2025, and is coordinated by International Community Organisation of Sunderland (ICOS), in collaboration with Impact North-East CIC. BiC2 has supported a total of 71 clients, and is currently supporting 61 clients, via holistic, one-to-one support, which includes counselling, health and wellbeing interventions, advice, and advocacy on accessing benefits and entitlements, immigration advice, and support for volunteers.

The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the efficacy of BiC2 Project outputs (results arising from intervention activities), in terms of outcomes (benefits