BBC Children in Need’s chair Rosie Millard resigned this week over allegations of “institutional failure” at the charity, according to a letter seen by the Times.
The Times reported that Millard’s decision to step down after six years was linked to grants awarded to LGBT Youth Scotland, a Scottish charity for LGBTQ+ people aged 13-25.
In her letter to Children in Need’s board of trustees, Millard reportedly criticised the charity’s chief executive, Simon Antrobus, for his “solipsistic” response over the withdrawal of funds to the Scottish charity after concerns were raised.
Children in Need said it suspended grants to LGBT Youth Scotland as soon as concerns were raised and launched a governance review after Millard’s resignation.
Grants to LGBT charity
In 2009, James Rennie, former CEO of LGBT Youth Scotland, was convicted as a ringleader of Scotland’s biggest paedophile network.
At the time, a criminal investigation found no link between his criminal behaviour and work within the charity.
Seven months after Rennie’s conviction, Children in Need began awarding grants to LGBT Youth Scotland, according to the Times.
Separately, Andrew Easton, who was found guilty of downloading and distributing indecent images of children in September 2024, co-authored LGBT Youth Scotland’s former schools guidance.
Meanwhile, in 2022, LGBT Youth Scotland referred itself to the police after two men said they were groomed by staff members.
In her letter, Millard said she raised concerns with Antrobus and alerted the charity about Rennie’s case in May 2024.
That month, Children in Need suspended grants to LGBT Youth Scotland and withdrew funding three months later following a review.
‘Institutional failure’
In September, the BBC confirmed that its charity had immediately suspended grant funding to LBGT Youth Scotland, following a thorough review in response to concerns raised by the BBC and others.
Millard accused Children in Need of “institutional failure”, questioning “due diligence” at the charity and saying that Antrobus had failed to respond “with the necessary level of seriousness”.
She said Antrobus only decided to cut funding to LGBT Youth Scotland due to “fear of negative publicity”.
Antrobus and senior managers “did everything in their power to distract the board from its duty to sever funding” to the Scottish charity during the three-month review,” Millard said.
This included a “bogus issue of safeguarding”, which was later dismissed, she added.
Review of board relationship with CEO
A Children in Need spokesperson told Civil Society: “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 spokesperson said the charity’s 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,” they said.
“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.”
LGBT charity says attack is ‘attempt to destroy our reputation’
LGBT Youth Scotland chief executive Mhairi Crawford said Millard’s resignation letter “demonstrates the ideologically driven nature of her attacks on our organisation and calls into question her suitability for a role such as chair of a nationally significant charity”.
She told Civil Society: “It’s only appropriate that wider boards challenge a chair who demonstrably ignores robust evidence in their decision-making.
“We’re 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 against us 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 charity and our work.”
Related articles
