09.12.2024
Diocesan Councils Pay Tribute to Longstanding Safeguarding Regulator
Dublin and Glendalough’ s Diocesan Regulator for Safeguarding, Olive Good, will finish up in her role after over 19 years of service at the end of this year. Members of Diocesan Councils gathered at their final meeting of 2024 last Thursday (December 5) to honour Olive for her dedication to the role and her service to the diocese and its parishes.
Councils Honorary Secretary, the Revd John Tanner, commented that the role of Safeguarding Regulator had grown significantly in recent years. He thanked Olive for the way in which she carried out the role.
“Thank you so much for the way that you have been able to guide parishes through quite choppy waters at times and for all the work that you have done with such great honour and grace. We will not be able to see the likes again,” he said.
Olive said she had really enjoyed her 19 and a half years in safeguarding. She said she left full time work in 2004 after having her second child and six months later she was asking God what he wanted her to do next. Shortly afterwards she got a call from the Archdeacon of Dublin asking if she would consider supporting the dioceses in safeguarding. At that stage it was just carrying out the occasional training and a bit of auditing work. “It has grown over the years but I have thoroughly enjoyed working and getting to know people in the dioceses,” she commented.
Olive calculated that over almost two decades she has provided 350 training sessions, 350 audits and over 5,000 people have been trained and the time had come for her to hand the baton over to someone else. She noted that she had not been on her own but had worked with three great diocesan secretaries. She had also had a team alongside her comprising of Suzie, Leo, Laura and Ruth. She hoped that in the future she would be able to continue to work with the dioceses in different capacities.
John Tanner noted that Olive is now a commissioned Diocesan Lay Reader so she would continue to serve the people of the dioceses.