York Minster Bellringers" Sacking Was over "Safeguarding" Issue

The Guardian
October 17, 2016

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/17/york-minster-bellringers-sacking-was-on-safeguarding-grounds

Thirty volunteer bellringers at York Minster were told last week their activity would cease with immediate effect. Photograph: Realimage/Alamy

York Minster dismissed 30 volunteer bellringers because one member of the group was regarded as a safeguarding risk, according to a statement delivered by the archbishop of York, John Sentamu.

Other members of the group “consistently challenged” the minster’s governing body, the Chapter of York, on this and other matters, the statement from York Minster said.

The volunteers were told at a special meeting last Tuesday that bellringing activity at the minster would cease with immediate effect for “health and safety” reasons and that they were dismissed.

The Chapter of York’s statement, delivered by Sentamu on Monday, said: “Earlier this summer it was necessary for the chapter to take action regarding a member of the bellringing community on safeguarding grounds. This came after complex multi-agency activity involving the City of York council, York diocese safeguarding adviser and the Church of England’s national safeguarding officer.”

The decision to dismiss the bellringers was taken in line with advice from safeguarding professionals on minimising risk to children, young people and vulnerable adults, it added.

“Some members of the York Minster Society of Change Ringers have consistently challenged the chapter’s authority on this and other important matters,” the minster’s statement said. “Repeated disregard of the chapter’s attempts to fully implement the church’s national policies for safeguarding, health and safety, and security meant that decisive action was required. This is why the chapter took the decision to disband the bellringing team last week.”

In a statement on its website, the local bellringers’ organisation, the York Minster Society of Change Ringers, said that although it had challenged the chapter on “the fairness of some decisions, we strongly refute any suggestion that we disregarded the implementation of any of their policies”.

Individual bellringers had “privately expressed concerns to the dean and chapter over whether due process was followed during their action regarding a member of the bellringing community,” it added.

“As a direct result of doing so, the entire team had their volunteer agreements terminated. This demonstrates that York Minster [does] not tolerate any questioning of [its] decisions, or of the processes by which these were made, even when that questioning is conducted politely and in private.”

The volunteers were told at last week’s meeting that a paid head bellringer was to be appointed in the new year, and he or she would select a new team. Current volunteers would be able to apply for the positions. As a result, no bells would be rung at the minster on Remembrance Sunday, Christmas or new year, they were told.

Allegations concerning the bellringer at the heart of the dispute are believed to date back more than 15 years and further concerns have emerged more recently.

The York bellringers are a close-knit team, including several members of one family. Last week, the bellringers and their supporters reacted with anger to the dismissals, accusing the minster of behaving in an “unchristian” manner.

Alice Etherington, a volunteer who launched a petition against the move, accused the chapter of a “vindictive measure” after complaints by the bellringers.

A spokesperson for the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers said: “We’re very sad to see the breakdown of the relationship between the ringers and the clergy at York. We’ve offered to work with York Minster to help them find a solution to this.”

Bellringers were not required to undergo criminal record checks unless they regularly worked with children, the spokesperson added. It is thought that a small number of the York bellringers had been through Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

The CCCBR had worked solidly with the C of E on safeguarding policies, the spokesperson said.

Last week a spokesperson for the minster said: “[It is] critically important to ensure that there is a consistent approach to health and safety, governance and risk management across all of our volunteer teams. In order to make these changes, we sometimes need to close existing volunteering roles so that we can move forward with the new processes. This is what has happened with our bellringers.”

The Church of England has been embroiled in allegations of sexual abuse of children, young people and vulnerable adults for decades, but the number of claims and court cases has mushroomed in recent years.

The way the C of E has handled the issue, and claims of cover-ups by senior church figures, forms a key plank in the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

The church has appointed safeguarding teams at a national and diocese level. However, dioceses and cathedrals have considerable autonomy from the national church in all issues.

Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, and the C of E have apologised to survivors for failing to protect children, young people and adults from physical and sexual abuse by clergy and church officials. Welby reportedly admitted that sexual abuse was “rampant” within the church in a letter to the mother of three boys who were allegedly abused.