Training – Over the last 12 months or so since we took on the Safe Spaces contract, First Light and the staff have all been searching far and wide for additional training to help us all understand the wider picture of abuse within the church, both from church bodies that we have regular contact with, and secular organisations too. This has included training on spiritual abuse, congregation ‘shunning’, LGBTQIA+ awareness including so called ‘conversion therapy’, and very shortly we shall be undertaking training designed to help us support survivors of abuse who also have criminal records or convictions for sexual offenses themselves, so we can work more safely and keep others safer through the work we continue to do.

Peer Support – As per the recommendations in the Rocket Science report for the 2 year pilot operation of Safe Spaces, we’ve started to make plans for peer support spaces provided by Safe Spaces. This isn’t a straightforward process, and we want to get it right and operate it safely, so we started by sending a questionnaire out to our service users, and the results were clear – you want peer support! We’ve now moved onto step 2, which is discussing with a few survivors in a steering group to make sure what we produce meets the needs of survivors, and does so safely. We’ve started to make enquiries too to get staff trained in peer support facilitation, so we can maintain a safe and supportive environment when we do launch the peer support service. We are really excited, and can’t wait to get the service up and running to add another string to our bow, and another way in which you can receive support and share your stories.

Engagement – Now that we’re fully staffed and up to speed with our knowledge and skillsets, we’re pushing on with our plans to further our outreach and engagement work. We’ve looked at our first year’s data and analysed it, to see if there are groups of people who are under-represented in Safe Spaces’ clientele. As such, we’ve seen that young people feature very rarely in our contact and support, and people who identify as coming from non-white British backgrounds. We can’t say too much, but we’ve identified ways we can begin to reach out to these communities, including increasing awareness of Safe Spaces in university and learning areas to appeal to younger people in particular, often living away from home for the first time and thinking about their faith and upbringing. We’ve got other plans afoot too, so watch this space!

Staffing – Since we took on the Safe Spaces contract in January, our staffing numbers have been steadily increasing to deal with demand. We’re delighted to say that we now have a full complement of staff working full time for Safe Spaces, consisting of a manager, 2 Support Advisors to operate the helpline, webchat and triage our new contacts, and 3 Survivor Advocates who provide longer term support to survivors. Thanks is due to all the survivors who offered to help during recruitment processes, from writing questions to sitting on interview panels. It’s wonderful to be able to use survivor voices to shape the service.  Information and bios for our staff are now available on the website. All staff continue to receive specialist training from secular and non-secular sources to further their understanding of church-related abuse. In addition, we have a pool of experienced staff who work on our out of hours helpline service.

Demand – Our service has steadily grown since January, reflecting the increase in demand and growing awareness of Safe Spaces. When our contract began, we inherited 43 survivor cases, and that number has now grown to 90 open cases being supported. We’re very proud of this growth, but also acutely aware that this is still just a drop in the ocean when considering the number of people who would benefit from our support, so we’re determined to grow further in the future.

Growth – As a combination of our successful recruitment and increased demand, we’ve now formulated a structured plan to further extend our reach and awareness of Safe Spaces, in particular within non-religious institutions so that we can reach those affected by abuse who no longer have a connection to the church. All our staff are now busy contacting a wide range of agencies including the police, Department for Work and Pensions, social care, Local Authorities, other charities and not-for-profit organisations, as well as strengthening our understanding and cooperation with Diocesan and Cathedral Safeguarding teams within the Church  of England, Church in Wales and Catholic Church in England and Wales. This has created opportunities to deliver talks, seminars and training sessions to raise awareness of church-related abuse and its impact, as well as the important role Safe Spaces can play in providing support to people who have been abused.