Safe Spaces Advisory Committee Member - Church of England Survivor Representative

Introduction

Safe Spaces Advisory Committee Member 

Church of England Survivor Representative 

Aims and Objectives 

The Safe Spaces Advisory Committee (SSAC) is a group that brings together key stakeholder representatives from the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales to provide operational advice in connection with the day to day activities of SSEW (Safe Spaces England and Wales), which the directors may factor into their decision making.  

The SSAC will: 

• Provide an opinion on whether the contractual provisions of the contract have been met, with any suggestions for improvement.
• Provide a view to the directors on service provider performance against key performance indicators and the required deliverables of the service.
• Input on potential service developments.

Roles and Responsibilities 

The role of the Safe Spaces Advisory Committee is to: 

• Attend meetings and contribute their experience and expertise to the discussion related to the review of the service outcomes reports submitted by the service provider and the Independent Evaluator.
• Ensure that the directors are aware of the voice of survivors of Church-related abuse
• Act as a ‘sounding board’ for the directors of SSEW in particular in relation to the more complex elements of the project that are relevant to their area(s) of expertise or experience.
• Provide assistance in connection with a quality control mechanism to ensure that outcome reports submitted by the service provider and Independent Evaluators are of high quality, fit for purpose and useful in deciding the future of the pilot project.

Survivor Representative Responsibilities in SSAC

• Considering and representing a survivor view of the impact of church-related abuse 
• Contributing experience and expertise to the discussion related to the review of the service outcomes reports submitted by the service provider and the Independent Evaluator.
• Reviewing evaluation reports from the Independent Evaluation Service and service provider from a survivor perspective, giving feedback as to whether  they sufficiently show survivor feedback and engagement.
• To reflect survivor voices based on both lived experience as well as consideration of the diversity of survivor experience, as far as is possible.)
• Give advice and suggestions as to how better to reflect voices of survivors within Safe Spaces.
• Raising risks and issues relevant to the monitoring and evaluation of the Safe Spaces service.
• Attendance of all meetings and for any meetings that are missed, to provide a feedback on relevant documents in advance.
• Representing survivors by participating in recruitment interviews for keys posts and contracts.
• Provide advice and support to a range of decisions to be made by the Board, whilst not having a formal vote - important input which is valued.

Person Specification 

Essential criteria

We are looking for a Survivor Representative who: 

• Is a victim/survivor of church-related abuse within the Church of England.
• Is committed to working ecumenically, assisting the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales to fulfil its safeguarding mission through the provision of the Safe Spaces service.
• Has strong inter-personal skills, an ability to listen, engage effectively and work collaboratively.
• Can communicate effectively by expressing their own views; work with differing opinions; challenge appropriately.
• Can review documents and provide verbal and/or written feedback.
• Can work appropriately with confidential information.
• Can commit sufficient time to conduct the role well.

This post may involve discussing potentially distressing issues, applicants will need to demonstrate they have the emotional resilience and capacity to manage this. 

You will receive an honorarium of £125 per meeting + reasonable expenses will be paid in accordance with the Church of England’s NCI  expenses policy.

There will be approximately 6 board meetings per year. Meetings are expected to take place during usual business hours.  

Terms 

The representative would be appointed for three years. The term can be renewable once. 

Appointment 

The post will be subject to the safer recruitment processes. 

Closing date: May 16th 2025

Interviews: Online via MS Teams or Zoom on Wednesday 4th June 2025, timings to be confirmed.