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The chair of the BBC’s Children in Need has resigned, accusing the charity of an “institutional failure” over grants issued to an LGBT+ organisation whose former chief was convicted of child sex assaults.
In her resignation letter to the Children in Need board, Rosie Millard, a 59-year-old former BBC journalist who had chaired the fundraising behemoth for six years, criticised grants of £466,000 awarded to the charity LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS).
The charity, which directly engages hundreds of young LGBT+ people each year and receives Scottish Government funding, saw its former chief executive James Rennie jailed in 2009 after he was revealed to be a member of a paedophile ring.
Rennie, a former SNP advisor who chaired LGBTYS from 2003 until 2008, was handed a life sentence after abusing a boy aged just three months old, among other charges, including those relating to indecent images of children.
Children in Need’s grants to LGBTYS began seven months after Rennie was convicted, when the charity had new management in place. The initial grant was reportedly worth £24,000.
Accusing Ms Millard of using historic allegations in a bid to “destroy our repuation”, LGBTYS said the allegations had been “proven to have had no link to our work”.
Ms Millard said Children in Need suspended grants to the charity in May after she alerted them to the 2009 case, and withdrew funding three months later after a review, according to The Times, which has seen her resignation letter.
In her letter, Ms Millard accused Children in Need’s chief executive Simon Antrobus of failing to respond “with the necessary level of seriousness” and claimed an eventual move to cut the charity’s funding was influenced by fear of negative publicity.
The BBC is understood not to recognise the claims about Mr Antrobus, nor an allegation that he and senior managers “did everything in their power to distract the board from its duty to sever funding” during the three-month review.
A Children in Need spokesperson said: “Nothing is more important to us than the safety of all children and young people. When allegations were made in relation to LGBT Youth Scotland, their grant was immediately suspended with the full support of the Board and a review began.
“In order to do this thoroughly and fairly the review took three months and culminated in the decision to withdraw funding.
“The Children in Need Board of Trustees are supportive of the actions taken by the CEO and senior leadership team and stand by the decisions made. Rosie at all times retained the Board’s support.
“In the wake of her resignation, in order to ensure any lessons learned are captured, the Trustees have instigated a review of ways of working between the Board and Executive in which Rosie has kindly agreed to participate.
“Our focus is on continuing to provide crucial support to 340,000 children in communities right across the UK, whatever challenges they are experiencing.”
In September, a man who contributed to LGBTYS “coming out” guidance – which was distributed to schools in 2010 – after attending the charity’s services as a young person in 2000s, was convicted of communicating online with someone he believed to be a child and sharing indecent images of children.
Andrew Easton, who was handed a community order, was never employed or volunteered at LGBTYS, the charity said.
LGBTYS describes itself as “Scotland’s national charity for LGBTQ+ young people aged 13-25”, and is among several LGBT+ charities to have been supported by the Scottish Government’s Equality and Human Rights Fund.
According to its annual report, the charity directly engaged 1,024 young people in its most recent year, along with a further 30,000 people via its LGBT Charter accreditation scheme aimed at promoting inclusivity in schools and businesses.
Dr Mhairi Crawford, chief executive of LGBTYS, told The Times that Ms Millard’s resignation letter “demonstrates the ideologically driven nature of her attacks on our organisation”.
Dr Crawford said: “We are pleased to see confirmation that Children in Need’s investigations into the work of LGBT Youth Scotland found nothing to report.
“Time and time again, those with anti-inclusivity motives point to historic allegations in attempts to destroy our reputation. Allegations that have been investigated and cleared by Police Scotland, and proven to have had no link to our work.”
Following her resignation, BBC director-general Tim Davie said: “On behalf of everyone at the BBC and Children in Need, I want to express our gratitude to Rosie for her leadership over the past six years.
“She has had a significant impact on countless children and young people and we wish her all the best for the future.”
Ms Millard said chairing the charity had “been an honour and a privilege”, adding: “Witnessing the incredible impact of our supporters’ generosity on the lives of children and young people has been truly inspiring. I’m immensely proud of the collective achievements we’ve made together.”
