The long-awaited review into abuse committed by the late Anglican barrister John Smyth has been completed and is now with the Church of England's National Safeguarding Team.
John Smyth was a former chair of the Iwerne Trust which ran Christian Summer holiday camps for boys from some of England’s leading public schools. He was accused of the violent abuse of some of the boys at the camps in the 1970's and 80's, but died in 2018 at the age of 78, before he could stand trial.
The camps produced many of the most prominent conservative evangelical leaders within the CofE. The Archbishop of Canterbury Most Rev Justin Welby also worked as a junior officer at the camps in the 1970s, but has said he was “completely unaware” of any abuse.
A lessons learned review was commissioned into the abuse in 2019 and a former director of social services, Keith Makin, was tasked with leading it. It was expected to publish its findings in May 2020 but it has been beset by delays and is more than four years overdue.
A statement published on the Church of England’s website says the National Safeguarding Team has received the report and a detailed plan, drawn up in consultation with survivors, is now in place to enable those who choose to do so to read the document in advance and with support if they need it.
But the statement says that because of half term and the fact some of those impacted will not be around, the report won't be published in full until Wednesday 13th November.
The strain of waiting for the outcome of the Makin Review has taken a toll on survivors – one, known as Graham, came forward 12 years ago to report his experience in the Diocese of Ely. He said a number of Church of England Bishops, including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, had received his disclosure of abuse 11 years ago but had not acted on the information.
Graham’s evidence from between 2012 and 2017 is the only testimony from this period wdue to be included in the review, but earlier this year he asked for his contribution to be removed because he was so angry about the delays to the report.
He told Premier at the time that he had seen a draft of the report but described it as “mere shadow” of what he had expected after almost five years of work.
He said victims wanted closure and that since the abuse was first reported not a single person had been held to account.
In 2021, Archbishop Welby made a full personal apology to Smyth’s victims, saying: “I am sorry this was done in the name of Jesus Christ by a perverted version of spirituality and evangelicalism. I continue to hear new details of the abuse and my sorrow, shock and horror grows.”
Once the review is published, The Church of England says survivors will have the opportunity to attend a confidential webinar to ask questions.