Safeguarding

I recently watched a documentary on BBC2 called ‘Exposed: The Church’s Darkest Secret’. It was a difficult watch all about Bishop Peter Ball, the most senior figure in the Church of England to be charged with sexual offences. He managed to deceive many people and it was shocking how the attitude of the church at the time was to try and cover it up, to refuse to believe those who had made allegations and to brush it under the carpet. Hopefully the church has learnt from this appalling behaviour and now takes Safeguarding very seriously. Church should be a safe place where all are welcomed. Safeguarding is an essential part of our mission to make sure this is so. It is all of our responsibility to report any concerns we have to our parish Safeguarding co-ordinators who in turn speak with the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisors to do all that we can to make church a safe place.