Children in Need chair resigns over grants to scandal-hit charity

The seat of the BBC's Children successful Need foundation has resigned, aft reports that she protested implicit grants awarded to an LGBT younker charity, whose erstwhile main had been progressive successful a kid maltreatment scandal.

Rosie Millard, a writer and broadcaster, accused the foundation of "institutional failure" successful her missive of resignation shared with the Times.

Millard objected to £466,000 being awarded to LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS) , a foundation which supports young cheery and transgender people.

Its erstwhile main James Rennie was convicted successful 2009 of kid enactment assaults. The grants from Children In Need began 7 months later, erstwhile the foundation had caller absorption successful place.

BBC News has not seen Millard's resignation letter.

A BBC spokesperson said: "When allegations were made successful narration to LGBT Youth Scotland their assistance was instantly suspended with the afloat enactment of the committee and a reappraisal began.

"In bid to bash this thoroughly and reasonably the reappraisal took 3 months and culminated successful the determination to retreat funding."

Rennie, who had been main enforcement of LGBTYS from 2003 to 2008 and is besides a erstwhile SNP adviser, was jailed successful 2009 aft being revealed arsenic a subordinate of a paedophile ring.

He was fixed a beingness condemnation for sexually assaulting a three-month-old kid and for conspiring to get entree to children successful bid to maltreatment them. He was ordered to service a minimum of 13 years, later reduced to 8 connected appeal.

Children successful Need suspended grants to the foundation successful May 2024, aft Millard says she alerted them to his case. It withdrew backing astir 3 months aboriginal pursuing a review.

However, Millard, who utilized to beryllium an arts analogous for BBC News, criticised Children successful Need for what she said was a deficiency of owed diligence.

She accused main enforcement Simon Antrobus of failing to respond “with the indispensable level of seriousness” and hesitating to instrumentality action.

She alleged that helium yet chopped backing to the foundation lone due to the fact that of fearfulness of antagonistic publicity.

The BBC has contacted Millard for comment.

Antrobus, who has been main enforcement of Children In Need since 2016 and antecedently held elder positions astatine Parkinson's UK and Scope, has not publically commented.

Another man, who contributed to schools guidance enactment unneurotic by LGBT Youth Scotland, was convicted this twelvemonth of sharing indecent images of children including immoderate of newborn babies.

Andrew Easton was a young idiosyncratic who attended services of LGBT Youth Scotland successful the 2000s, and, arsenic a result, contributed to a 2010 usher for young radical astir coming out. However, helium was ne'er an worker of the charity.

He pleaded blameworthy successful September to ­communicating online with idiosyncratic helium believed to beryllium a child, downloading indecent images of children and distributing indecent images of children.

He was sentenced to a assemblage order, ordered to transportation retired 200 hours of unpaid work, enactment connected the enactment offenders registry for 3 years and told to instrumentality portion successful a enactment offenders programme.

In 2022, 2 men said that they were groomed astatine LGBTYS astir the clip Rennie was main executive. In response, LGBTYS suspended a unit subordinate and referred itself to the police.

A BBC spokesperson said: "The Children successful Need committee of trustees are supportive of the actions taken by the CEO and elder enactment squad and basal by the decisions made.

"Rosie astatine each times retained the board’s support. In the aftermath of her resignation, successful bid to guarantee immoderate lessons learnt are captured, the trustees person instigated a reappraisal of ways of moving betwixt the committee and enforcement successful which Rosie has kindly agreed to participate.”

Mhairi Crawford, main enforcement of LGBTYS, said that Millard’s resignation missive “demonstrates the ideologically driven quality of her attacks connected our organisation”.

Crawford said: “We are pleased to spot confirmation that Children successful Need’s investigations into the enactment of LGBT Youth Scotland recovered thing to report.

“Time and clip again, those with anti-inclusivity motives constituent to historical allegations successful attempts to destruct our reputation. Allegations that person been investigated and cleared by Police Scotland, and proven to person had nary nexus to our work.”

Tim Davie, the BBC's manager general, praised Millard connected Wednesday for her “significant interaction connected countless children”. Children successful Need raised much than £39 cardinal successful its yearly broadcast connected Friday.