The Church was criticised for not including their voices in the original Past Cases Review 2007/8 as shown in an independent scrutiny report, published in 2018.
The guidelines for the review were published in August 2019 and include an independent helpline run by the NSPCC for survivors.
The Diocese of Norwich is encouraging anyone who may have concerns, past or present, to either call the dedicated NSPCC independent helpline on 0800 802020 or contact other survivor support services including the Diocese of Norwich’s Safeguarding Advisor, Sue Brice, on 01603 882345 or safeguarding@dioceseofnorwich.org. What you say will be confidential unless you are in serious risk of harm or someone else is.
The Ven Steven Betts, Archdeacon of Norfolk and Diocesan Safeguarding Lead said:
“The Diocese of Norwich is committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults to worship and grow in Christ safely. I take that commitment very seriously and believe that making our churches safe for all is everyone’s responsibility.
“This is an important opportunity to ensure that survivors can come forward in confidence that their voices will be heard.”
Further information about the review:
- All dioceses are checking with every parish that all safeguarding concerns* about the behaviour of any parish employee or volunteer towards children both currently and historically have been notified to the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor.
- Independent reviewers are being appointed in each diocese to look at all relevant files and provide a final report which will be submitted both to the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel and the national PCR2 Management Board.
The work is expected to be completed by the end of 2020 and the final report published in 2021.
* Safeguarding concerns are matters relating to an individual and reported to the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor for guidance or action; this may or may not result in a referral to statutory agencies.