Child sex abuse charity rejects Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s Christmas donation

The Children’s Society’s head said the charity ‘respectfully decided’ not to accept the donation as it was inconsistent with the group’s values

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s donation to a children’s charity has been rejected (PA Wire)

A major children’s charity has rejected a Christmas donation from the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury saying that doing so would not be consistent with its work in supporting victims of child sexual abuse.

Earlier this week Justin Welby – who will officially quit in early January over failures in handling a Church of England abuse scandal – sent an annual e-card for the festive season, and said he was making a donation to The Children’s Society.

A message accompanying the card from Mr Welby and his wife Caroline noted that the charity “works with children affected by criminal and sexual exploitation, abuse” and other issues.

But the charity announced on Friday that it had “respectfully decided” not to accept the donation.

Mark Russell, the organisation’s chief executive, said: “After careful consideration, we have respectfully decided not to accept the donation offered by the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury.

Justin Welby stepped down after criticism of the Church’s handling of historic child abuse allegations (PA)

“The Children’s Society is deeply committed to supporting the survivors of abuse, our teams support victims of child sexual abuse, and this means that accepting this donation would not be consistent with the principles and values that underpin our work.”

Mr Welby announced his resignation last month over the fallout from a damning report that implicated him in the Church’s failure to protect victims from serial abuser John Smyth.

The independent review concluded barrister John Smyth - thought to have been the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church - might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported him to police in 2013.

Across five decades in three different countries and involving as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa, Smyth is said to have subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks, permanently marking their lives.

Smyth died aged 77 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, and was “never brought to justice for the abuse”, the Makin report said.

Earlier this month Archbishop Welby ignited further fury among leading bishops who accused him of making light of safeguarding failures in his farewell speech to the House of Lords. He apologised the next day.

During the speech, he said: “There comes a time if you are technically leading a particular institution or area of responsibility where the shame of what has gone wrong, whether one is personally responsible or not, must require a head to roll.

“And there is only, in this case, one head that rolls well enough.”

He added that his “poor diary secretary” deserved pity after seeing “weeks and months of work disappear in a puff of a resignation announcement”. His speech was criticised as being “tone deaf” by a victim of Smyth.

The Children’s Society chief executive Mr Russell explained their decision further, saying: “We were profoundly shocked by the findings of the Makin report, and our thoughts are with all survivors of abuse. We believe that there is an urgent need for the Church of England to reset its approach to safeguarding and continue to create a safer Church and safer spaces for young people, protected by real accountability and a culture of care.

“The Children’s Society‘s life-changing work supports children facing abuse, exploitation or struggling with their mental health. We remain deeply grateful for the generosity of those who share our vision and the support of those donations is crucial to changing children’s lives for the better. We will continue to focus on delivering a society built for all children.”

A Lambeth Palace spokesperson said: “Lambeth Palace respects the decision made by The Children’s Society.

“The Archbishop of Canterbury shares the principles and values of The Children’s Society and is committed to supporting the survivors of abuse and victims of child sexual abuse.

“He applauds The Children’s Society for their tireless work in this field.”