Survivor’s role to improve safeguarding gets rewarded
A CARMARTHENSHIRE woman has been given a special award by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
For the past five years the Lambeth Awards have recognised people from across the Church of England and beyond in fields including evangelism, the
Religious life, safeguarding, ecumenism, theology and interfaith relations.
In total there were 32 awards this year and Jo Kind from Meidrim was among the recipients.
Along with others from New Zealand, Kenya and the USA, as well as a number of others in the UK and Ireland.
Mrs Kind was given the Canterbury Cross for her services, namely outstanding service to improving safeguarding practice for The Church of England.
She has worked tirelessly for many years to improve the Church of England’s safeguarding practice and, in particular, its response to and engagement with survivors.
Herself a victim of church abuse, Jo has given her time and effort voluntarily to supporting survivors and to campaigning for strategic change within safeguarding practice in the Church of England.
She is a committee member for Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors (MACSAS) and also sits on the church’s National Safeguarding Panel (NSP) as a survivor representative.
She said upon receiving the award: “It’s good to be recognised for the work I do and it’s the Church of England highlighting what I and others do.
“I also work with Church In Wales.”
Mrs Kind added the that there were “so many others working hard to ensure that the churches are safe places to be.
“There is still a long way to go to ensure that the response when reporting abuse to the Church of England is consistently open, courageous, truthseeking, truth-accepting, compassionate, and restorative for victims.”
Jo’s passionate belief in safeguarding and the importance of providing a good response to victims and survivors is evident to all who work with her.
She continues to work with the church to seek change and is currently engaged in cofacilitating the Survivor Reference Group, which is working towards a new policy of co-production and enshrining victims’ voices at the very heart of the
Church’s practice.
The awards are usually presented at a ceremony at Lambeth Palace on the South Bank of the River Thames in London.
However this year’s event has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: “This is the fifth year of the Lambeth Awards, and I am constantly impressed and humbled by the work that recipients have accomplished, sometimes in the most challenging circumstances.
“Not all are followers of Jesus Christ, but all contribute through their faith to the mutual respect and maintenance of human dignity which are so vital to spiritual and social health.” safeguarding