Iwerne Christian camp to close following historical abuse
by Cara Bentley, Premier:
The Christian camp which has had its name tainted by the abuse of former leader John Smyth is to close this summer.
The camp was for boarding school pupils and prep schools in the South of England and is one of four camps run by the Titus Trust.
The schools eligible will now be invited to attend other Titus Trust camps.
This has come following an extensive, year-long review which the trust said has been “informed by detailed feedback from school teachers and other stakeholders” and “has paved the way for an agile and more regionally focused approach to organising its popular summer activity holidays.”
Its closure however comes after damaging abuse done to boys in the 70s and 80s which only started to receive proper scrutiny in 2017.
John Smyth QC was a British barrister and was Chairman of the Iwerne camps from 1974 until 1982 and accused of beating young boys who attended in the 70s and 80s at his home away from the camp.
In 2018, he was on the point of facing extradition to the UK from South Africa to be interviewed by Hampshire Police when he suffered a heart attack and died on 11th August.
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