Rolls-Royce's factory expansion announcement on Wednesday comes weeks after another famous British brand generated controversy while setting out its own plans for the future.
Jane Chevous, co-founder of Survivors Voices, which ensures that survivors are listened to, says that in many institutions there may be people trying to do the right thing, but too often there is a failure to listen to and protect vulnerable people.She learnt this, in part, from personal experience. As a young adult she was sexually abused by two Church of England priests over a ten-year period. It only stopped when she moved away. She went on to have a mental breakdown. This was not only because of the abuse, she says, but also the lack of the support from the church that she trusted.
Her religion added a layer of complexity to what happened, she explains. She was groomed by someone who she believed was doing God’s work. “You are told this is God’s calling and this is what he wants,” she says.In 2001, ten years after the abuse ended, she reported it to two bishops. “It was absolutely terrifying. I found it hard to hold any hope that I would be believed.”One bishop suggested she meet her abuser to try to sort it out “because that is the Christian thing to do”. The other, she says, told her to go to the police because he couldn’t do anything. Afterwards her mental health deteriorated.
In 2019, she reported it again. This time there was a police investigation, during which time one of her alleged abusers died. She says the police concluded there was not enough evidence to take the case further. She is among a number of survivors who have asked the church to review their cases.In the wake of the report into
the church has said that it and its associated organisations must implement “robust safeguarding procedures …that are governed independently.” It also said “there is never a place for covering up abuse.”
Jane has since been appointed to the Church of England National Safeguarding Panel. “The church has struggled to choose survivors," she says, "instead it has chosen to protect the institution."Red letter day: Bristol City took on Charlton at Ashton Gate in a contest of two teams nicknamed The Robins. The match
The revving rev: They've welcomed a new vicar in Backwell, with a special service at St Andrew's Church to celebrate the arrival of the Reverend Sam Norton, a motorcycle-loving man of the cloth.Greyhound racing will be banned "as soon as practically possible", the Welsh government has said in what would be a first for the UK.
Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies announced plans to wind down the sport, which has been criticised for harming dogs.No timeline has been announced for the ban, but Irranca-Davies said it is not "impossible" it could come in before the next Welsh Parliament election in May 2026.