Britain's Pilgrim Places; Church of England Safeguarding Concerns; Gong Baths

Pilgrimage, the journeying on foot to holy places, which was once banned by Henry VIII has undergone a revival in Britain in recent years. Nick Mayhew-Smith, co-author of a new book which illustrates 500 historic routes and sites with practical instructions on how to find them, explains the appeal of this ancient tradition.

The Church of England’s governing body, the Archbishops’ Council has been reported to the head of the Charity Commission for its failure, ‘to devise a safe, consistent and fair system of redress for victims of abuse.’ The letter of complaint signed by survivors, senior lawyers and members of the General Synod is critical of the church’s handling of abuse allegations and calls for the entire safeguarding process to be reformed. Donna Birrell reports on the letter and hears from two of the signatories. The church’s lead bishop for safeguarding, Dr Jonathan Gibbs responds to the complaints and outlines what he is doing to change the church’s approach to safeguarding.

This week, the UK and France have been working on new measures to stop migrants from crossing the English Channel. More than 4000 have done so since the start of the year. William Crawley debates our legal and moral duty towards migrants who make the dangerous journey across the Channel, and asks what should happen once they enter the system in the UK.

And we continue our summer series exploring alternative spiritual practices that people have been embracing during lockdown. This week Martyn Cawthorne from Gong Spa Manchester explains the transformational properties of sound as he takes us on a virtual gong bath.

Producers: David Cook Carmel Lonergan

Editor: Christine Morgan

Photo: Hermit Chapel at Roche, Cornwall by Marcus Green