At the end of June, Pauline and I presented our 1,000th “Facing the Unthinkable” seminar. The event was filmed to become part of our new DVD workpack - see opposite page. The UK-wide series of seminars began in January 1994, with the first seminar being hosted by Oasis Trust at Haddon Hall Baptist Church in London. Since then we have got to know the geography of the UK quite well with most weekends spent “on the road”. In the early days we even used to pack three six-hour seminars into a weekend! We thank God for our good health over the last decade; as a result only two seminars have been cancelled - one planned for Princess Diana's home area on the day of her funeral, and the other because of a lack of bookings.

The training programme has been delivered across church denominations, secular organisations and other faith groups. In addition to the seminars we've delivered, others have been presented by CCPAS colleagues and through local churches following the same basic format. In total, we estimate that CCPAS has trained more than a quarter of a million leaders and children's workers over a decade.

As a result of the training, many churches have been helped to develop safe working practices and respond appropriately where children might have been abused. We have seen so much sadness and pain, but it's been a joy to see churches and other organisations respond so well to the challenges.

There have also been a number of amusing or dramatic incidents. In one rural location we had to extend the halfway break to allow 80 people queuing in the dark for access to one toilet at the end of the garden! We soon learnt to ask about toilets and disabled access on the application form!

Prior to launching the national programme, we had run a number of ad hoc training sessions. One of the first was being asked to speak on “the hidden sins” (in the days when people found it difficult to mention sexual abuse!) at a Bible week in a Butlin's holiday camp. Two elderly ladies struggled to the first floor meeting room and sat in the front row, hanging on every word. At the end of the session, they thanked us so much for all they had learned, saying they thought the seminar was on “Growing Old Gracefully”!

At another seminar, a smartly dressed man in a bowler hat with a violin under his arm came in late and sat in the first row. At the break someone told us that he was “an escapee” from a psychiatric hospital. Thankfully, a mental health nurse and police officer in the audience managed to discover the facts and, indeed, he was someone who was detained under the Mental Health Act and absent from where he should be. The violinist from a famous national orchestra returned to his hospital and two of the local organisers of the seminar missed most of it!

The training programme has, of course, evolved and changed a great deal over the years, but we have retained one exercise that involves abuse at a camp. In the early days when considering options, it was often difficult to convince some church leaders that reports of possible child abuse were in fact allegations of serious crimes, which needed to be referred to Social Services and the police. In one of the first seminars, I tried in vain to convince one vociferous leader. In a final desperate attempt, I said, “If on Sunday night someone is stabbed in your church car park, would you call an elders' meeting to decide what to do?” His response, “Well, it's interesting you should say that, because it happened not so long ago and that's what we did!”

Thankfully, attitudes have changed out of all recognition over the last decade, with churches and statutory agencies working much more closely together to the benefit of the children we serve.

Many reading this will have experienced one of our seminars. CCPAS child protection policy and good practice guidance has developed from our contact with children, parents and workers “on the ground”. We have learnt so much from you, and from people's pain. Thank you for being part of our history and helping us help others. Keeping in touch in this way has helped us to respond to so many challenges over the years. And the end is not yet! We may well have the chance of meeting you face to face in one of our seminars or through our new DVD programme. There are many new challenges too.

Recent publicity in regard to the so-called 'witchcraft' case and the activities of some fringe religious groups (see pages 5 and 10) is but one. On the plus side it has been good to meet so many representatives of African churches in our seminars and to see how seriously they take child protection.

“Caring” also helps us keep in touch with those looking after and supervising children. We know that our practical “good sense” articles are appreciated from the feedback we receive. As a result we have decided to publish the magazine four times a year instead of twice. Why don't you let us know what you think on some of the topics covered in this issue as your experience may well help others, too?

 

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