A past Wisbech Grammar School pupil is at the forefront of the fight against human trafficking.

Hannah Flint, 35, is the regional development executive for the north of England for the International Justice Mission (IJM), a non-governmental organisation which protects people from violence by rescuing victims, bringing criminals to justice and giving survivors a safe future.

The organisation has rescued more than 16,000 individuals from violent oppression and protected millions by building up public justice systems in the developing countries where it operates.

As a volunteer for the pressure group, Stop the Traffik, Mrs Flint has been involved in running a training day at Manchester airport on spotting the signs of human trafficking, speaking in schools and teacher training on online safety and the grooming process.

She has trained youth workers and taught in schools, spoken in churches and partnered with the Rhema Theatre Company to create a show about modern day slavery, as well as fundraising more than £14,000 to help rescue victims of slavery and trafficking around the world.

Mrs Flint is proud to follow in the footsteps of her former school’s most famous past pupil, the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson.

She said: “When I started with IJM, their head office is in Washington DC and I met these fabulous human rights lawyers – and nobody had heard of Thomas Clarkson.

“I am always talking about him. He is completely my hero and an ex-Grammar School pupil as well.”

Mrs Flint is recognised as an expert in her field - she was interviewed this week by Justin Webb on the BBC Radio Four programme ‘Today’, ‘BBC North West Tonight’, BBC Radio Manchester and 5 Live about the case of Ilyas Ashar, 84, of Salford, who was jailed for 13 years at Manchester Crown Court for child exploitation.

He subjected a deaf and mute girl, whom he brought into Britain from Pakistan, to a life of misery and degradation in the cellar of his five-bedroom family home.