The General Synod has given unanimous backing to a call for the Government to ensure the protection of child survivors of trafficking after hearing of fears that the Nationality and Borders Bill could leave more children unprotected and at risk.Members voted 331 in favour, with no votes against and no abstentions, both to acknowledge the ‘leading role’ that the Government has played internationally in challenging slavery - while calling on the Government to ensure the proper protection of minors who are trafficked and enslaved.The Synod also voted to encourage all dioceses, deaneries and parishes in the Church of England to raise awareness of modern slavery. Members further called on people to pray for the victims and survivors of slavery and trafficking and all those organisations who work to help and support them.General Synod member Alistair Bianchi, introducing the debate at the Synod, said progress that had been made in tackling modern slavery and protecting children who have been trafficked risked being endangered as a result of measures in the Nationality and Borders Bill.There are ‘considerable concerns’ that the lack of attention paid specifically to protecting children in the Bill – currently before Parliament - could have a negative impact both on child survivors of trafficking and children subject to the immigration system who are at risk of exploitation, he told the Synod.“This can be seen in the Bill’s creation of a new ‘slavery or trafficking information notice’ which would be issued to potential victims of modern slavery claiming asylum, setting out a limited time in which a potential victim must provide information to ensure they don’t damage their credibility. “This disregards the impact of trauma on the ability of victims, especially children, to recall relevant details. In addition to this, the proof required for a reasonable grounds decision will likely increase with the bill, further excluding children from support.”Mr Bianchi was speaking on behalf of Durham Diocese, which campaigned successfully in 2018 to prevent a young man ‘Stephen’ -not his real name - from being deported back to Vietnam after he was trafficked into the UK as a child to work on a cannabis farm.“While there have been developments in government policy since this motion was first raised in 2018, there remains a great deal of concern about the outcomes for trafficked children, particularly as they transition to adulthood – as exemplified by Stephen’s case,” he added.In his speech, he highlighted the work of the Clewer Initiative, the Church of England’s campaign to raise awareness of modern slavery and help support survivors and vulnerable groups.
I was reminded recently of a Ghanaian proverb which says:‘Even the chicken, when it drinks,Lifts its head to heaven to thank God for the water’Behind this proverb lies the observation that not only chickens, but most birds, drink by gravity. That is, they dip their beak in the water, take and hold a sip of it, and then lift their heads high in the air until the water trickles down their throat. Of course, they are not literally thanking God for the water, but they look as if they are, and Ghanaians have turned their action in to a parable.Gratitude is certainly a godly virtue, which should characterise all the people of God. True, during their wilderness wanderings, the Israelites were continually complaining against God and against Moses. Yet in later liturgical worship of the Temple one of the commonest refrains was <em>‘O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good’</em>, with the congregational response <em>‘for his love endures for ever’</em>(Psalm 136). During his public ministry, when Jesus healed ten men suffering from leprosy, he expressed astonishment that only one of them came back to give thanks. As those who have tasted the grace of God, gratitude should arise spontaneously within us. So, when Paul prayed for his Colossian friends, he included the petition that they might be <em>‘joyfully giving thanks to the Father’ </em>(Col 1:11-12) for their salvation and for all other blessings too.It seems that no matter where we look there is so much around us that can so easily lead us to grumble. Let’s choose to be different. Let’s choose to practice gratitude.
Lead chaplain, Revd Capt Katie Watson is appearing on the Channel 4 documentary Geordie Hospital. "Our department motto is 'for everything else there’s a chaplain'," she said. "We only have two things to offer, the gifts of time and presence, but we give them whole heartedly."We provide chaplaincy 24/7, 365 days a year, and during the pandemic we never went away."Her team includes chaplains from various world views and beliefs including Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus, and Humanists. Kate, seen in the photo with the hospital’s therapy dog Poppy, added: <span style="font-size: 1rem; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">"This role isn’t for everyone, and people would need to spend time with us to understand the complexity and diversity of what we are called to do.</span>"Healthcare Chaplaincy is a very specific calling and requires a great deal of resilience and life experience."She certainly has life experience and served in Bosnia in the 1990s, as part of the Royal Military Police."Once you have seen genocide first hand on the streets of a European country," she explained."There is nothing left in the world that can faze you after that."I have seen the worst of humanity and I have seen, and continue to see, the very best of it."Channel 4’s documentary is a six-part series, which began on 17 January. It follows the Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s staff through a shift, featuring a cast from porters to surgeons, to dental nurses to chaplains. "The show reflects some of what we do, but not all of it," she said."So much of what we do is so sensitive and so very private to the people we serve that it was not possible to show all of what we do day in day out. "The work we do is often very distressing and disturbing and that was not appropriate to show on television in this show."Work for the chaplaincy team includes everything from running a clothes bank and distributing foodbank vouchers, to involvement in police identification on the deceased, and sitting on ethics committees.After 14 years in the job, there has never been a typical day. She joked: "Write a plan and then rip it up!"
St John’s Church in Keswick in the Lake District made half a hectare of land next to its graveyard that was too stony and waterlogged for burials available to the town’s then newly-formed Community Housing Trust. The land now has 11 three-bedroomed houses and the trust has gone on to build a further 30 homes in the town on other plots. The latest four – three, three-bedroomed houses and one two-bedroom house – were built on land provided by the Methodist Church on the site of a demolished church hall.Around half the homes built by the trust are for shared ownership and the other half are let out at rents that are truly affordable in perpetuity – measured in relation to local earnings, not market rents.Bill Bewley, the Chair of Keswick Community Housing Trust, believes that up to 200 people have been housed as a result of the trust’s work so far with further potential plots of land for housing being explored. “We are a community organisation but there is no doubt in my mind that if it had not been for the impetus from Keswick St John’s we would not have gone on to build the houses that we have done,” he said.The trust was formed originally after the lack of affordable homes in the area emerged as a key concern in consultations held by Keswick Churches Together, the group of churches of all denominations in the area.Local estate agents were reporting that more than half of the properties they sold were for second homes or holiday lets.“Back when we first discussed this, around a decade ago, we knew that the average house price in Keswick meant that you needed an income of £75,000 a year. This was way beyond the means of most people working in Keswick,” he said.“The problem we have, particularly since lockdown, is that house prices have gone up in Keswick.”
