John Smyth
Publication of Makin Review
With the publication of the Makin Review, we have been profoundly grieved to read again of the shockingly brutal behaviour of John Smyth towards young people who trusted him and of the negligence of so many in authority over the years. We remain deeply sorry for the times we did not put the welfare of victims and survivors first and for the additional pain that we caused for a number of these people and their families.
Above all, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and survivors, many of whom have suffered so much and continue to live with the impact of John Smyth’s abuse today. We are grateful to all those who have re-lived their pain for this Review process so the truth of what happened can be known. We also want to thank Keith Makin for his careful, thorough and detailed work on the Review.
We began our statement in August 2021 by apologising and by saying that we continue to reflect deeply on how the Trustees as a body responded when they were first made aware of the abuse in 2014, and that is ongoing. We acknowledge that there were unacceptable failures of communication within the Trust in the past and we are deeply sorry.
We are grateful for victims and survivors who have spoken out at considerable personal cost; some to us directly and others more publicly and we have tried to listen well. Their testimony has shaped our thinking, our training and our ways of work and leaves a significant legacy to young people and adults today.
We are committed to ongoing learning and change and since 2017 have worked hard to ensure our safeguarding culture is robust and enables young people to thrive. This has included implementing the recommendations of an externally run Culture Review, leadership training with careful accountable oversight of leaders, and the introduction of an online reporting system for safeguarding concerns. We will reflect on what further lessons we can learn from Keith Makin’s review.
None of this undoes the damage done by John Smyth’s abuse or the failure of those in positions of responsibility to act decisively to prevent its continuance. It is our hope that one significant result of the Makin review is the protection of the next generation from such horrors, and we are committed to continuing to play our part in working towards that end.
Titus Trust Trustees – 7 November 2024
Documents relating to the Titus Trust’s response to John Smyth’s abuse
We believe that it is vital for the truth to be made known in a case like this and that this is especially important for those who have suffered so much harm. So in the interests of seeking to be wholly transparent about the role and actions of the Trust during the period in question, and given the delay in the publication of Keith Makin’s review, we are now publishing a timeline showing when the Trust became aware of John Smyth’s actions, how much we knew and how we responded. We are also providing answers to questions and allegations that have been raised about these matters in this document. It is our prayer that this will be helpful to all who have been involved in this tragic case.
Titus Trust Trustees – August 2021
The Trust’s action with respect to Jonathan Fletcher
The Trust had said when publishing this timeline (referred to at 2 Feb 2017) that it would make a further statement relating to the Trust’s action with respect to Jonathan Fletcher in due course. The trustees consider that the Culture Review (undertaken by thirtyone:eight and published in Dec 2021) has provided this information and it can be read here (the relevant pages are 82-85).