A person walking into a BMO should be able to discover who governs it, who holds its leader accountable, who oversees safeguarding and where they can complain or whistleblow without needing to understand the internal machinery of the Church of England...We have already seen what can happen when charismatic leadership grows faster than the structures capable of challenging it.

I’m sharing this important piece from House of Survivors because it reiterates something safeguarding institutions still too often fail to grasp: abuse does not expire because it is labelled “historic”. The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ position statement recognises the potentially lifelong impact of non-recent child sexual abuse. House of Survivors goes further, highlighting the secondary trauma that can be caused by defensive, adversarial institutional responses.

Content warning: This post discusses allegations of rape and child sexual abuse. When reporting an allegation of rape, language matters. “Having sex” implies mutuality and consent. It sanitises the alleged actions of the adult and turns a child into a participant in their own alleged abuse.

This week, Guarding the Flock turns one. A year ago, after blowing the whistle on serious safeguarding and culture concerns, I genuinely thought my career was over. The truth is, there were days I thought my life was over. The toll it took on me was painful. I couldn't imagine ever working in safeguarding again. But somehow, out of that, Guarding the Flock was born. It didn't begin with a business plan. It began with a laptop, long days at my kitchen table, and countless hour

Independent safeguarding reviews have become one of the Church's favourite forms of institutional theatre: commission a report, express concern, promise change, and carry on much as before. After reading enough of them, scepticism isn't cynicism. It's a rational response to an institution that has become far better at reviewing failure than confronting it.

In this guest blog, Fr Robert Thompson, Vicar of St Mary's with All Souls', Kilburn, and St James's and the Sherriff Centre, West Hampstead, reflects on the deeper cultural and institutional challenges that continue to shape safeguarding in the Church.

Depending on what tickles your pickle, your private life may remain entirely your own business or become the subject of reports, consultations, working groups, theological statements, listening exercises, passive-aggressive area meetings, and debates about the future of Anglicanism itself.

Some things do not become harmless because they are loved, defended, protected, platformed, rehabilitated, or given another chance. Some vipers simply recover their strength, then bite the hand holding them. This is the part many institutions refuse to confront.

Jonathan Fletcher has now been found to have committed indecent assaults spanning decades. The court this week heard allegations involving humiliation, psychological domination, and abusive “discipline” presented within the language of spiritual mentoring. But the truly damning part is that this was not hidden abuse suddenly uncovered. This went on for years.

At what point does an “improvement plan” stop looking like progress and start looking like an admission that the system itself has been profoundly dysfunctional for years?

When a leader associated with safeguarding failures steps into a role centred on restoration, the question is simple. On what basis?

Safeguarding within church contexts has, rightly, focused on protecting children and vulnerable adults, often where clergy or church officers have been the source of harm. But this has created a fundamental blind spot. There is far less recognition or confidence when harm flows in the opposite direction, from congregant to clergy.

If you haven’t yet watched Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards , be prepared: it is difficult viewing. But it is important viewing, not simply because of the subject matter, but because of what it reveals about trust, and how easily that trust can be misplaced. Huw Edwards was not just a public figure; he was a trusted presence in the homes of millions. For years, his calm, measured, and mellifluous delivery offered reassurance during moments of national significance and colle