Update I have added a statement from the lead safeguarding bishop below the fold.
Press release from the Church of England
Update from independent reviewer Keith Makin
02/07/2024
I can confirm that the representations process, as referenced in my last update on 14th May 2024, is progressing. Those named and criticised in the review report have been given the opportunity to comment on the extracts which are relevant to them. Once their responses have been received and considered and any amendments arising from this made, I will hand the report to the Archbishops’ Council for subsequent publication. This is unlikely to be until the end of the summer as my priority is to ensure that this final stage is carefully conducted, recognising the impact on all those affected. I confirm this will be done as soon as practically possible. At that point the date of publication will be decided by the Archbishops’ Council.
Support
Both the reviewers and the Church recognise that giving information to this review has the potential to be re-traumatising for victims and survivors. While support has previously been offered the NST has now secured the service of a specialist advocacy service. FearFree Support provides specialist support to victims and survivors of abuse, offering trauma informed and victim led bespoke support. Its director of services has identified an experienced independent advocate for victims and survivors to deliver this service and this information has been relayed to the survivors and victims.
Contact: kate.williams@fearfree.org.uk, mb 07442 968767/helpdesk 01225775276
There is an additional offer of therapeutic support for victims and survivors of Smyth from Yellow Door.
Yellow Door is an organisation that can offer evidence-based therapy to support victims and survivors of abuse and those that have experienced trauma.
Contact Yellow Door confidentially at reviewsupport@yellowdoor.org.uk.
Support for victims and survivors of other Church-related cases can be accessed here.
Statement from the lead safeguarding bishop
Statement re Smyth review from lead safeguarding bishop
02/07/2024
“While I am deeply disappointed that the publication will not be until the end of the summer at the earliest, as the reviewer has stated, I am aware of the complexities and demands of this review, originally commissioned in 2019, on all involved.
My concern is with victims and survivors who are waiting for the report and for the truth and justice that they hope it will bring for them. I understand and deeply regret that victims and survivors are now experiencing further trauma because of this latest delay in the revised timetable.
Colleagues in the National Safeguarding Team are equally frustrated by this further delay and are engaging regularly with the reviewer on this. At this point, given the complex nature of the review, the existing investment of time, and the constraints of data handling, we believe that the best option is still to continue and to wait for the revised timeline for completion. However, we continue to review all options available to us.
We need to ensure in the future that the commissioning of reviews is done differently, and according to the timescales and good practice set out in the Safeguarding Practice Review Code agreed at General Synod last year.”
The Church of England’s lead safeguarding bishop, Joanne Grenfell
Support
Both the reviewers and the Church recognise that giving information to this review has the potential to be re-traumatising for victims and survivors. While support has previously been offered the NST has now secured the service of a specialist advocacy service. FearFree Support
I completely reject the utterly fake concern of the Lead Safeguarding Bishop and, by extension, the NST, for the ‘victims and survivors’ of the John Smyth cult. For well over 7 years the NST has actively conspired to delay, dilute and defeat any progress whatsoever in my case of historic church-related abuse. The current Lead Safeguarding Bishop has spent more than 12 months actively taking steps to insure that no progress is made, in fact that things have gone backwards, supported by both Archbishops and the Archbishops Council, and now the ‘Response Group’. The reputation of 2 Archbishops & 2… Read more »
Thank you for saying that, Simon, and thank you for all you do to bring this abuse and its cover-ups to the light. Even bearing in mind the number of survivors, it is outrageous that any report can take this long and I intend to go on saying that to everyone.
I am so sorry for you and all the other Smyth survivors. The ineptitude, callousness, and cruelty of the C of E is beyond belief.