Disappointment at Church safeguarding vote
As an organisation that works with survivors of rape and sexual abuse, we followed this week’s vote on safeguarding by the synod of the Church of England with interest.
We were therefore incredibly disappointed by their decision to vote against allowing full, independent safeguarding measures.
This decision ensures that church safeguarding will “continue to fall below the standards of secular organisations” as outlined by Professor Jay in her 2023 report, The Future of Church Safeguarding.
Our Chief Executive Officer Daisy Anderson said: “For survivors of childhood sexual abuse, it’s vitally important that they know that lessons will be learned.
"This decision by the Church of England not to allow independent safeguarding measures is a sign that they are not listening and that young people within the institution remain vulnerable to abuse.
"There is a lot of work to do to restore public faith in the church, and we must continue to push them towards full independence.”

We’d like to take this opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU to all of our supporters, partners and volunteers for their ongoing support this year. Some of our key achievements in 2024 include: Delivering counselling to 934 people, supporting 1,248 ISVA clients and taking 1,094 calls on our helpline Securing a £110,000 three year grant from Children in Need for our Youth Counselling Service Speaking to over 450 secondary school pupils across Surrey in bespoke workshops and assemblies An incredible £31,000 raised through our Charity of the Year partnership with Burhill Golf Club Amazing supporter Kristen , who ran an incredible three half marathons in three consecutive days Attending Pride in Surrey , and talking to everyone there about what we do, including the Mayor of Guildford Being invited along to Freshers Week at The University of Surrey to chat with students and staff Hosting a visit by the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey who donated £6,000 towards our work Attending a charity golf day held by Surrey Golfbags Charity Golf Society, which raised an incredible £16,200 Being invited to be part of the panel for the Surrey Soroptimist’s conference ‘Is Surrey Safe for Women?’ Securing grants of £10,000 from NEXT towards our counselling services, and £500 from TKMaxx and Homesense Foundation Having an amazing team of 10 runners in the London Landmarks Half Marathon – including our own CEO Daisy - who raised a fantastic £5,000 between them Our very own Fundraising Manager Helen, who took on the Brighton and Hove Triathlon in September, and raised nearly £600 Receiving a donation from the High Sheriff of Surrey of £4,000 for our Youth Counselling work Being nominated by the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey for two tickets to the Christmas Carol Service at Westminster Abbey, which allowed us to treat two of our long serving staff and volunteers What an incredible year. We are always humbled and grateful for the lengths supporters go to to raise money to support our work with survivors of rape and sexual abuse across Surrey. None of this would be possible without your support, so thank you We'd like to wish all of our supporters, volunteers, staff and partners a happy and healthy new year, and we look forward to working with you more in 2025.