THE SANDU FOUNDATION IS TAKING DIRECT ACTIONS TO END SLAVERY IN VEHICLE WASHING BY 12/2020

THE SANDU FOUNDATION IS TAKING THE REQUIRED ACTIONS TO END SLAVERY IN VEHICLE WASHING BY 12/2020

With the recent report from the Environmental Audit Committee starting to slide from many a mind under the weight of Brexit, The Sandu Foundation has launched the required strategy to ensure that, not only are many of the recommendations made by the committee implemented in a timely fashion, but that they are done in such a way as to ensure they end modern day slavery, environmental damage and the theft of vital revenues to the UK in vehicle washing FULL STOP.

The strategy below is simple, effective and is cost neutral for the UK tax payer.

1: THE SANDU PLEDGE – We are asking companies and individuals alike to sign up to a pledge which states;

“I AM TAKING THE SANDU PLEDGE AND FROM 1ST APRIL 2019 I WILL ONLY WASH MY CAR WHERE I SEE THE SANDU CODE OF CONDUCT OR THE WASHMARK ACCREDITATION. I AM A HUMANITARIAN AND I WANT TO STOP MODERN DAY SLAVERY IN VEHCILE WASHING”

As other wash accreditation programmes become available (we think there is probably room in the industry for three or four) the board of The Sandu Foundation will ensure their validity and add them to the pledge. They will then be invited to sit on the board so that each group can share best practice.

We are inviting all companies, big and small to sign up to The Sandu Pledge and will be announcing the first of the companies (who have already given their pledge) on the 7th December 18.

Further information about how to take The Sandu Pledge can be found on thesandufoundation.co.uk website.

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The Sandu Foundation 17 De Grey Square, De Grey Road, Colchester, Essex CO4 5YQ 2

We will also be asking members of the public to sign up too, by posting their pledge on Instagram and twitter. We want to ensure that unregulated hand car wash sites are in no doubt that the companies and people of the UK will no longer turn a blind eye to both inappropriate and illegal practices.

Every car wash in the UK is now being visited by CWAS, working on behalf of the Sandu Foundation to explain The Sandu Pledge and that they are encouraged to sign to the WashMark Accreditation Programme so that those making the pledge have vehicle wash sites to use, safe in the knowledge that they are either working to compliance or have reached the WashMark Accreditation standard. CWAS are visiting 150 – 200 a week but we are also encouraging vehicle wash companies to contact us and come forward.

2. Training and support for local Councils.

As the CWAS’s evidence indicated (EAC submission) Local Councils have limited knowledge of hand car wash sites, and often have a lack of manpower to deal with unregulated vehicle washing. We are today sending letters to all relevant departments and the chief executive officers of every council in the UK offering specialist local training and support.

3. The Sandu Foundation core compliance teams.

In 2018 we started meetings across the UK and these will continue but this time we expect to have an even greater government agency attendance to ensure a timely way forward.

Only working together can we stop unregulated vehicle washing.

4. Stakeholders and charities

Separate meetings will be arranged to ensure stakeholders and charities are kept informed and the opportunity to engage with the strategy.

It is not lost on The Sandu Foundation that the Environmental Audit Committee not only mirrored the CWAS’s evidence in their recommendations but that after months of deliberation, it chose to release the report on the very day that a Brexit deal was announced ensuring that the public saw little of its findings.

We now expect cross party support for our strategy as the benefits are clear and it is the only strategy that offers an overview and will be independently monitored. The neutral cost to the tax payer is an added bonus.

Dawn Frazer the Director of The Sandu Foundation and Car Wash Advisory Service said “Since the death of Sandu Laurentiu Sava in 2015 we have been working on a strategy to ensure the vehicle washing industry could be changed so dramatically as to stop modern day slavery, promote environmental protection and stop the loss of vital revenues back into the public purse. Until recently we were missing the vital link to make the strategy work, the hook to get the vehicle wash companies to commit, but a chance conversation with a large fleet operator provided that for us with the answer in the form of The Sandu Pledge. For years vehicle washes across the UK have been allowed to do pretty much whatever they liked, and sad to say that for one reason or another they have not been challenged. Bringing them to compliance takes patience and knowledge and can not be done sitting in an anonymous office. We know there is organised crime in the industry but we still believe that people are innocent until proven guilty and so we will offer the WashMark Accreditation Programme to all wash sites. Those who are good people, but previously poorly advised should be allowed to find a better way. Yes, there will probably be a significant number who will not want to change, and we trust they will either close voluntarily or the core compliance teams will need to take action. We know it will not be an easy task, but nothing in life that is worth anything comes easily. We entered this industry knowing it had issues and now it is time to deal with those issues head on at every vehicle wash site in the UK. It is time for a UK vehicle wash industry safe and fair for all.”