ABUSE INVESTIGATION
I WANTED to highlight to your readers that the inquiry is looking for former residents of St Aidan’s children’s home in Widnes who were victims of child sexual abuse to come forward and take part in our Accountability And Reparations investigation.
As many of your readers will know, St Aidan’s and St Vincent’s children’s homes were two of the five homes at the centre of the case which became known as the ‘North West Child Abuse Cases’.
In respect of St Aidan’s the Inquiry has just one core participant directly associated with the case study.
A core participant has a formal role as defined by legislation. Core participants have special rights in the inquiry process.
These include receiving disclosure of documentation, being represented and making legal submissions, suggesting questions and receiving advance notice of the inquiry’s report.
However, it is not necessary to be a core participant in order to provide witness evidence to the Inquiry.
Individuals and organisations that wish to be designated as a core participant in relation to this investigation are asked to submit their application before June 30, 2017.
Core participant status is not the only way in which individuals and organisations can assist the inquiry in this investigation.
Those who do not wish to play a formal role in the investigation as a ● core participant, but have information to provide which may assist the inquiry, should also get in touch as soon as possible.
Anyone who contacts the inquiry can be assured that their information will be handled in the strictest confidence.