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God of love, Your promise turns into reality in the cry of a tiny child. The Word made flesh dwells with us and we rejoice. In a world that still longs for peace, yet creates war, you return as the Prince of Peace, help us to live as those who grow the seeds of love into a harvest of grace and peace, that your people and all creation can flourish. In a world that looks for the quick fix, remind us that your Son was with you at the very beginning, you bided your time and waited until the moment of grace. Mary carried Jesus, waiting, watching and longing; help us to have patience as we carry your word. The wise ones travelled on long journeys, following an ancient star; help us to be prepared to travel to uncomfortable places for your sake. In this season of light and dark, woven together in mystery, we offer you our praise. Help us to sing with the angels, to share our feasts with the hungry and to reflect the Christ light in all we do. Amen.

After the political turbulence of the past week, who knows what the year ahead will bring? One thing is for sure - the Church's safeguarding agenda will still retain a high profile, and we will be thrust into the limelight when we. the Methodist Church, appear before IICSA (Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse) in March. Here we will have to account for our actions in trying to address the issue of abuse in the Church, and we have gathered together a significant amount of evidence to tell our story. We hope that we will not be found wanting. This time of carols and cake, turkey and trimmings, pantomimes and presents, can also be stressful for many families. The time spent in close family proximity, with great expectations of 'the best Christmas ever' can alternatively lead to sadness and misery. We have only to follow soap opera story-lines to see this clearly played out. And although our experiences will not, hopefully, be as dramatic, those little niggles and sharp words, perhaps fuelled by a little too much seasonal cheer, can have a profound impact. Reports of domestic abuse can spike at times such as Christmas. The Church should remain vigilant, keeping a watchful eye on its congregations and community for any sign that all is not well. Equally the experience of a happy family Christmas can be uplifting, providing memories that in some cases last a lifetime, paving the way for how things can be made well in the future. The Christmas message is about joy and hope, so going into 2020, we still have much to remain optimistic about. If you are a local church safeguarder or have any other role that supports this vitally important work, a huge thank you for all you do, especially if it feels like hard work at times and for whatever reason. I wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas. The blog will return in the new year. There will be much to comment on I feel.

Loving God, When we hear our Borough of Enfield mentioned in the news, it is all too often in connection with knife crime and violence done to our young people. We pray for those who are caught up in the climate of fear and in the increased normalisation of such violence. We pray for all who are working to promote a healthier, safer atmosphere across London. We pray for our Circuit initiatives with “Minds 4 Action” in bringing together people who share Your heart for peace. Help us to find ways to live well together. Disarm our attitudes of suspicion and hatred. Break down the barriers that divide and prevent your Kingdom from being fully known. We pray in the name of Christ. Amen. PLEASE PRAY FOR: For the plans for redevelopment at Edmonton and Ponders End Churches For the SPACE project on the Elsinge Estate: creating a Special Place for Adults and Children and Everything! For our Circuit’s reconfiguration to be best shaped for mission and ministry; for the excitement and challenge that these changes bring.

Football hasn’t had much of a look in in recent weeks, so I thought I ought to rectify that. It distracts from the election and the increasingly frantic advent season which really should be about waiting and preparing prayerfully and not about racing around trying to cram in as many events as possible as well as shopping and family visits.  Having said that our early Christmas family gathering on Saturday was a real treat. Football in London SE25 is going pretty well I have to say – three clean sheets in a row is the sign of a good defence however patched up it is just now as result of injuries.  If only we could score a few more goals. Perhaps the next transfer window in January will bring us the precious gift of a prolific striker! More concerning at the moment however is what seems to be a resurgence of racist and homophobic abuse yelled out by a thankfully small number of individuals in a few places.  This has no place anywhere in our world, let alone a football stadium. But sadly we seem to be living in times that we thought we had perhaps left behind to some extent.      As far as they are able, the clubs and police seem able to apprehend some offenders, but it is likely that others will have got away with it.   It adds a very depressing note to what I still believe is ‘the beautiful game’. Football clubs generally work very hard to promote cultures of diversity and inclusion, and produce extensive advertising and other resources to drive home the message of a zero tolerance approach to racism and homophobia.  However this is not simply football’s problem. Communities need to mobilise to combat the insidious themes that seem to percolate in some quarters and churches can of course contribute to an alternative local narrative. The season of advent is a good time to practice what we preach about goodwill to all people, taking every opportunity to take a stand when we see or hear an injustice. The next home match is a local derby against Brighton and Hove Albion on Monday. Feelings can often run high born of a rivalry that goes back 30 or 40 years or more.  Your prayers for a quiet night will be much appreciated.

As you press your Oyster Card or Freedom Pass against the card reader when you board the bus, the driver rarely gives you a second, or even first, look. He or she is often staring resolutely ahead. Yesterday, for me, the experience was quite different. I guess it was one of those random acts of kindness that bring a bit of hope and joy to our lives. Firstly, I was greeted with a word of welcome and eye contact. Then after three of four stops there was an announcement over the loudspeakers that the bus was going to be held back to ‘regulate the service’. At this point the driver got out of his cab – an extreme rarity these days – marched to the middle of the buggy parking area and told the dozen or so passengers that he had been instructed by the controller to wait six minutes. He then said that was a crazy suggestion (or other polite words to that effect) and as we were all busy people with places to go, he would partially ignore this instruction, wait a minute and a half to show willing and then move off. He then produced as if by magic a tea caddy which was full of sweets, and proceeded to walk the length of the single decker to give every passenger a sweet. Given that he still had a minute or so to wait, he then told us about how TfL (Transport for London) had banned him (and no doubt a few others) dressing as Father Christmas in the run up to the big day. He went on to say that he had done this for the last 5 years with no objections, and that whilst his company (owned by the Dutch state-owned railway company – I won’t even get started on this theme) had no problem, TfL had objected and he would face the sack if he disobeyed this instruction. Cue much sympathetic murmuring about the intransigence of unseen bureaucracy and the health and safety brigade. In addition the driver said that a number of people consciously aimed to catch the ‘shopping bus’ he drives – his preferred, less stigmatising name for the mobility bus – because of his outfit and decorations. And with that we were away once more, the passengers with smiles on their faces, and for me an ambition to say a clear and un-mumbled ‘thank you’ when I got off. A small act of kindness, tinged however with the regret that somehow some people were conspiring to stop others deriving pleasure from harmless activities. I’ll leave you to come to your own thoughts!

Last week’s post about homelessness and safeguarding seems to have chimed with a number of media reports about the same issue. In fact the day after the blog was posted new figures for homeless people dying were published indicating at least a 100 or more deaths in 2018 as compared with the 2017 figure of 597. A report in the Guardian newspaper yesterday told the story of a woman who died in a shop doorway. A colleague also told me yesterday that the night shelter opened only this week by the local Churches Together in our part of south west London, has been full each night so far. This is truly an issue of huge shame and significance that sadly, I fear, will not easily be solved in the immediate short term. I wrote last time about the drive to encourage local authorities and their partners to develop more holistic services for people with complex needs, and I was pleased to learn from the same colleague that this is now on the planning agenda in my own local authority. So perhaps collecting the stories, sharing intelligence and the persistence of campaigners is beginning to bear fruit. There’s a message here to safeguarding champions in our churches. If there is a local reluctance to engage with our policies, for whatever reason, It’s about calmly going about our business, observing what’s happening, building up a picture of what needs to be done and then making a compelling case to church council so that there is a record of solid effort to make improvements. Also, it’s not just about getting the DBS checks done, or making sure everyone is trained. These are critically important, but in addition it’s about taking a good look around our communities and seeing what we can do to safeguard our most vulnerable citizens. This column recently posted a statistic published by a local Safeguarding Adults Board about the profile of the lost likely victim of a safeguarding concern in its area, and I repeat it again – female, over 65, living in their own home and subject to physical abuse or neglect. Arguably, our church demographic is well represented in this group. Let’s make sure that we are alert to their stories and situations, and take account of these in our local safeguarding activities.

597 homeless people died in England and Wales in 2017, according to research just published by Kings College, London. The average age at death was 42 for women and 44 for men. Whilst most deaths occurred in hospital, some deaths were recorded on the street. One sadly notable example was in a corridor at Westminster underground station leading to Parliament. The overall figure included some living in bed and breakfast accommodation, placed there because of having no home. Of 1283 rough sleepers recorded in 2017, 27% were in London. These are stark statistics as we feel the weather changing and churches begin to roll out plans for winter night shelters. Despite the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and the Rough Sleeping Strategy published in 2018, the number of rough sleepers has not declined, and Adult Safeguarding Services are under pressure to make sure that joined up plans are made to address individual cases especially where a safeguarding concern has been identified. The Kings College research also studied 14 publically available Safeguarding Adult Reviews relating to deaths or serious incidents, to identify key learning points to prevent more deaths in the future. The researchers found that the deaths were mainly due to physical abuse, neglect and self-neglect, but also found, interestingly, that financial abuse was a critical factor in 6 cases. Good practice should be based on partnership working between the NHS, Adult Social Care, Housing Services and the Police and a recent workshop I attended organised by the Local Government Association had been convened to see how such arrangements could be improved. What became clear, however, was that churches, as key voluntary sector providers of night shelters, also have a role to play in local networks of support. Providing night shelters for vulnerable adults with complex needs is therefore an important missional community safeguarding activity, and so we need to plan with care how we deliver these services so that they are safe in both physical and psychological senses. Being well-connected with the other support systems for this group is equally vital. Some of our safeguarding casework may also involve direct work with homeless individuals with complex and challenging needs, and we may find ourselves shuttling between agencies who each own a ‘bit’ of the problem, but not the whole. Some areas have now developed more integrated ‘teams around the adult’ and even using the principles of family group conferences to solve seemingly intractable issues. If you are banging your head against the brick wall of officialdom, let your DSO know and we will see if we can help shape a more holistic local response. It can be done.

We are having some decorating done at home - principally because I'm not so good at DIY and it would take me forever. It means the house is in a topsy-turvy state and I can't find anything. Important items for work or home just seem to disappear. The more I look, the more I panic that I've lost something. It's not a good feeling. There's a moral here about good, systematic record keeping, and that's also a feature of good safeguarding practice. We have to keep comprehensive records of our recruitment practice, planned activities and, critically, unexpected incidents. If we didn't know this already, then IICSA has shown us why this is essential. Likewise the Charity Commission impose high standards on our practice as a key element of self-checking on compliance with our own safeguarding policies. This is a mantra that we often repeat and our training programmes confirm this. But do we know the best way to do this? Has anyone ever shown us what a good record of an incident looks like? What do we include and what do we leave out? The Connexion still offers a short course that can be delivered in local churches, as a supplement to our basic Foundation Module course, or to flesh out the recording section of the Advanced Course. If you want to avoid the panic of not knowing where anything is or whether you have remembered everything, here is the link to the course: https://www.methodist.org.uk/for-ministers-and-office-holders/safeguarding/training/safeguarding-recording-2015/ Check it out!

The Duke of Cambridge has a lot to answer for. No, not that one, but the mid-19th century landowner who refused access to the London and South Western Railway who wanted to cross the flat lands he owned near the Thames at Kingston. The aim of the company was to drive the Portsmouth bound tracks parallel to the main road that already threaded its way through the centre of this old market town with its ‘Royal’ sobriquet. In time the Kingston by pass would be built, one of the first of its kind in the country. More of that another time. The Duke of Cambridge’s refusal required the railway company to carve out a cutting through the nearby Surbiton Hill, if it were to keep the same direction. No doubt a more expensive option at the time, but it allowed for the building of Surbiton station which is now a major commuter hub, with fast trains taking just 17 minutes to cover the 12 miles to Waterloo. For legions of boys starting at Surbiton Grammar School in the mid-sixties, the first geography lesson was always about the school’s location on top of the hill, and the railway cutting nearby. Opposite the school gates was a small public space which overlooked the 4 lines and so was an ideal vantage point to watch steam engines thundering by. There was therefore an active Railway Society at the school. Our geography teacher would exhort us on entering the class room to ‘take an atlas’ and for me this large flattish book on its own was a rich treasury of people and places to savour. I studied it, plotted routes, worked out contours, learnt about the weather and generally developed a long lasting interest in the world around me. Our teacher was not necessarily the most dynamic, but he could bring the atlas pages to life. However, he had an issue. Generally mild-mannered he could be roused to fits of temper by bad behaviour in the classroom, and his response was to throw pieces of chalk (or on one occasion the blackboard rubber) in the direction of offenders with unerring accuracy. He continued to do this throughout my school years, and so I wonder if anyone ever made a complaint? Clearly such behaviour today would lead to dismissal and probable prosecution but then it seemed par for the course. He didn’t have the presence that other teachers had who could seemingly control a class with just a look, or a withering phrase. For me he opened up a new world where I could see myself living on a bigger map, and his teaching has informed and sustained a lot of my interests. But I can’t forget that he was also flawed by his resort to violence. It was unacceptable then and still is now. Whoever we may see as inspirational, we cannot ignore or gloss over any aspects of their behaviour that causes harm.

By now you will have realised if you’ve forgotten to put your clocks back. Or maybe you are hibernating already? Of course if you are in hibernation mode you won’t be reading this just now… This also means that it’s time for the season of Remembrance, and then Advent. It’s also Methodist ministerial matching time with the speed dating sessions around the circuit after the eagerly awaited call from the District Chair to say that a puff of white smoke is coming our way, or not as the case may be. As senior circuit steward this time around it’s quite a hectic task for me to make sure that the matched presbyter gets a good opportunity to look around and, equally, the local church gets a good go at taking a look at them as well. She or he will be no doubt be faced with a plethora of subtle questions to determine what they are really like. One question could even be about safeguarding training and experience. So we will see what transpires as presbyters and circuits alike wait with a mixture of hope and perhaps a little apprehension. The other regular early November event for me is the annual model railway exhibition at our local leisure centre. 25 working layouts and trade stands galore. And a vintage bus service from the station. Modellers’ heaven! We have been along as a family for over 20 years, and this year it’s the time to induct our 9 months old granddaughter into the mysteries of 00 gauge and track control systems. It is a bit if a niche interest, and I do have some wistfulness about never having constructed a fully working scenic railway. To do so requires, time, energy skill and commitment as well as a good supply of cash. But we go along for a couple of hours and escape to another place, enjoying the skills and enthusiasm of the exhibitors. I’m not sure what our granddaughter will make of it though. I am reminded of a recent case where a group of boys broke into a hall and destroyed thousands of pounds worth of irreplaceable models, lovingly built over the years. There is so much to depress and upset us in the news these days and sometimes awful stories wash over us, but this story made me very sad. I was then heartened by the warm responses from so many people. If you give so much of your time to something and someone spoils it in an instant the impact can be shattering. Our churches can experience this feeling when something tragically unexpected happens. It will take time and careful support to recover. Take care as you wander out on these dark nights.

Contractors are replacing a gas main in my road. The work started in August and was scheduled to last 9 weeks. Well it’s 10 weeks now and only half the work has been completed as far as I can see. This week the work has reached the middle of the road and three way traffic lights have been installed outside my house, along with major parking restrictions. The project manager called at our house to tell us to expect two and a half weeks of disruption ‘and frustration’ (his words). Cue five weeks methinks. The reason for the gas main renewal is ostensibly to make safe the existing gas network and improve the quality of the service by avoiding a string of smaller individual repair jobs. I get this but the logistical difficulties these improvements are currently causing to our neighbours and ourselves are considerable and our local councillors have been involved to see if they can help to ensure that the contractors progress with all due speed. However compared to a major gas leak or even worse an explosion with risks to life, the temporary irritations pale into insignificance and no doubt we shall just keep calm and carry on parking a quarter of a mile away. The usual nearby overspill parking spaces are all filled by others in the road who have suffered for the previously mentioned 9 weeks. So why am I sharing this human angst? We know that some people find taking safeguarding seriously and implementing all our policies and procedures irksome and perhaps unnecessary. For them, it gets in the way, puts barriers up, and requires time and attention that they cannot spare. Our church practice requirements can make them feel frustrated. Like the gas network it’s all hidden away underground so we can forget about it and hope for the best. But that’s exactly the point. We need our safeguarding policy and practice systems to be smooth and effective, running effortlessly in the course of our normal work and being church. We display our policies for all to see, but much of good safeguarding practice takes place quietly out of the glare of others. Our systems may not be hidden underground – they certainly shouldn’t be – but from time to time we do need to take stock, audit what we do and if necessary upgrade our infrastructure. And that will take time and energy yet still be seen by some as an overreaction. However we shouldn’t tolerate minor leaks and of course we want to avoid at all costs a major explosion where people are harmed by our failures. ‘The Gasman Cometh’ is a song by Flanders and Swann who were a comic musical duo in the late fifties who wrote amusing songs about a wide variety of social and everyday matters. This song refers to a person who calls in a variety of trades people to deal with a domestic challenge precipitated by having no gas. Because the repair job was not completed properly in the first instance and cracks were papered over by a succession of decorators, electricians and carpenters, the gasman had to return again to do the job again. Our job is to get it right first time and every time. If that causes some extra work and short term frustration than that’s probably a price worth paying.

The Carl Beech case hit the headlines again last week. A report was published which described in detail the errors the police had made in investigating Carl’s allegations about a high level paedophile ring. Scotland Yard, and the Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson, both came in for some strong criticism. Whilst there were no doubt things that could have been differently, the issues at the heart of this case remain credibility and belief. When someone makes an allegation, what is our instinctive response and then what is our organisational and professional expectation? Are they one and the same? The church’s approach is to believe what we are told, what we see and hear, whilst at the same time in our training we stress the need for respectful uncertainty. Are they compatible? Of course they are. As our President wrote in the Times on Saturday, we can hold two positions or contrasting convictions. It’s really how we go about our business of recognising what we are witnessing, listening with care, making careful notes and checking things out with a supervisor or experienced colleague. If we do this in a real sense of Christian love, matched with other fruits of the spirit and a good dollop of common sense we can ensure that we start our encounters with survivors from a strong conviction of belief. This is critically important so as to provide that essential reassurance at the outset. It’s the start of a journey that will no doubt have a number of twists and turns along the way, but the right approach, first time and every time will pay dividends for all involved. Speaking of belief, some aficionados of South London football can’t quite believe the current form of the team from SE25. Who knows where this journey will end either! It’s going to be about being alert, having conviction, keeping the faith and not getting deterred. Pretty much the same recipe as responding well to the needs of survivors.