The Church of England
Survivor Support Fund Panel Chair
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Job Description
The Survivor Support Fund (“the Fund”) has been established by the Archbishops’ Council to provide short to medium-term support to people who have experienced Church of England-related abuse and who are facing an urgent and immediate need for assistance as a result.
Funding decisions are made by an independent panel drawn from a variety of backgrounds, including professionals and those with lived experience of abuse, and chaired by a person independent from the Church. We are now seeking to establish this panel.
The Fund has three priorities: signposting to statutory agencies, local resources and relevant charities; grant for therapeutic support; and grant for basic needs.
The Fund will be easy to access, and aspects of the design of the Fund were co-produced with victims and survivors. Based on findings from consultation and co-production, the Archbishops’ Council approved a Terms of Reference that set out the criteria and parameters of the Fund. Panel decisions will be regularly reviewed to ensure fairness and equity in all applications.
Panels are held as often as needed – it is anticipated that this will be fortnightly. With a pool of panel members, frequency of meetings will vary on volume of applications, and it is anticipated panel members will attend a meeting every one to two months. The Panel meetings will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams.
Decision Panel meetings are expected to last up to about an hour and a half, depending on the number and complexity of discussions required. Panel members are required to read the panel papers before the meetings.
Independent chairs and Panel members will be supported by the two Panel Secretaries to the Fund (staff members of the National Safeguarding Team).
Independent chairs and Panel members can come from backgrounds of different faiths or no faith.
Remuneration
Independent chairs will be recruited as consultants at a rate of £250 per panel meeting, including preparation, meeting time and any correspondence after meetings. The contract will be for three years.
Independent chairs will invoice the Archbishops’ Council on a monthly basis and be responsible for their own tax arrangements.
A note on data protection
As an organisation, we have to comply with data protection law. Under such laws you will be a data processor on behalf of the Archbishops’ Council, and we will be sharing sensitive and confidential data with you as independent chair.
The role of data processor comes with responsibilities and obligations which you must accept if you wish to act as independent chair. For example, you cannot use, share or alter information shared with you for the purpose other than your role as an independent chair of the Fund. This is to protect independent chairs, panel members as well as the applicants who come to the Fund. We will provide mandatory training to ensure independent chairs and panel members understand their responsibilities.
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Before you take on the role
Independent chairs and Panel members will be required to complete a Basic DBS check and provide two references. These processes must be completed ahead of their first panel.
Independent chairs and Panel members will also be required to undertake mandatory training, including:
- Church of England National Safeguarding Basic Awareness training (1 hour and 15 minutes)
- GDPR(UK) training (40 minutes)
- An online training day to meet other panel members, to familiarise themselves with the Terms of Reference and other important matters, on Thursday, 10 September (10am to 4pm).
Conversations and interviews
If you would like to have a conversation with the Panel Secretaries, please get in touch by writing to ssf@churchofengland.org.
If you would like to apply for this role, please apply through the recruitment website/ application system and not through the email address above. In the application process, you will be asked to provide a CV and covering letter that addresses the skills and knowledge required for the role.
The deadline for application is 11.59pm, Sunday, 9 August. Shortlisting will be done shortly after and shortlisted candidates will be contacted as soon as possible.
Interviews for this position will take place on Monday, 24 August, Tuesday 25 August or Thursday 27 August. They will take place online.
Responsibilities
- Chair panel discussions and prepare as needed
- Read panel papers, which contain application information, ahead of panel meetings
- Declare any conflicts of interest as soon as possible
- Discuss applications during panel meetings and accept different points of view on significant matters
- Apply and abide by the Terms of Reference of the Fund in making eligibility and award decisions
- Seek clarifications from the Fund Secretaries where needed
- Maintain confidentiality of information
- Abide by data protection laws
Qualifications
- Be able to lead a balanced and trauma-informed discussion
- Encourage fellow panel members in their contributions and reflecting across skill sets, knowledge and experience, ensuring all have their voices heard
- Work within the user-friendly, survivor-centred ethos of the Fund
- Maintain a trauma informed approach in considering each application
- Be able to weigh, analyse and balance information
- Apply and abide by the Terms of Reference of the Fund and seek clarifications from the Fund Secretaries where this might be needed
- Have a good understanding of abuse and trauma
- Have insight and understanding of the particular impact and consequences of Church related abuse
An independent chair of the panel must
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- Not be affiliated with the Church of England in their working role, and should have suitable experience such as the ones below:
- Safeguarding in a statutory or non-statutory background
- Working with perpetrators and victims of crime, especially all types of abuse
- Working with benefits claimants
- Qualifications related to counselling, psychiatry or other therapeutic treatments
- Similar support schemes as the Survivor Support Fund
- Not be currently going through a live Church of England safeguarding case as a victim or respondent. This protects panel members’ wellbeing, given the panel process involves hearing about other people's experience of abuse. We also need to keep the process clear, fair and independent for everyone.
About Us
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About The NCIs
The National Church Institutions comprises a wide variety of teams, professions and functions that support the mission and ministries of the Church of England in its vision to be a church, centred on Jesus Christ, for the whole nation - a church that is simpler, humbler, bolder.
We Include. You Belong.
Our Belonging and Inclusion Strategy aims for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong, and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.
Living out our values in all that we do, we:
- Strive for Excellence
- Show Compassion
- Respect others
- Collaborate
- Act with Integrity
We believe our commitment to belonging and inclusion fuels our progress and drives us forward. The NCIs are a safe, inclusive workplace for people of all backgrounds and walks of life. We welcome applications from people of all faiths and of no faith. We want to encourage applications from a diverse group of people who share our values. Even if you have never thought about working for us before, if you have the skills and experience we’re looking for then we would like to hear from you.
Use of AI in your application
We appreciate that you may want to use AI tools to help you with your application. We're happy for you to use AI to come up with ideas and help structure your thoughts, but you shouldn't use AI to fabricate information or write your whole application for you. One of our values is integrity, and although we want you to demonstrate your best self, we don't want an AI-generated persona. If you simply copy and paste AI-generated content into your application, this will reduce your chances of success.
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