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The chair of the BBC charity Children in Need, Rosie Millard, has resigned after reportedly protesting against grants being awarded to an LGBT youth charity, whose former CEO had been involved in a child abuse scandal. Millard described the charity’s actions as “institutional failure”. Millard objected to the granting of £466,000 to LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS), which supports young LGBT+ people, following James Rennie’s child sex assault conviction in 2009. Rennie was previously chief executive of LGBTYS from 2003 to 2008 and a former SNP adviser, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Children in Need suspended grants to the charity in May 2024, following Millard’s alert of Rennie’s case. Funding was later withdrawn following a three-month review. Millard criticised CEO Simon Antrobus for failing to respond with “the necessary level of seriousness” and hesitating to take action. She accused him of ultimately cutting funding to the charity as a result of fear of negative publicity. However, Children in Need has stated it deeply values the safety of all young people, and suspended grants to LGBTYS immediately, adding that the board fully endorsed the review process.
Another man, Andrew Easton, who contributed to guidance provided by LGBTYS, was convicted this year of distributing indecent images of children, including newborn babies. He had attended LGBTYS services in the 2000s and contributed to a guide for young people about coming out in 2010 but was never an employee of the charity. In 2022, two men reported being groomed at LGBTYS during Rennie’s tenure, and the charity subsequently suspended a staff member and referred itself to the police.
Mhairi Crawford, the current chief executive of LGBTYS, said the resignation letter “demonstrates the ideologically driven nature of her attacks on our organisation.” Crawford stated that she was pleased to see confirmation of Children In Need’s investigations into the work of LGBT Youth Scotland, which found nothing to report. Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, praised Millard for her “significant impact on countless children”. Last week’s Children in Need broadcast raised more than £39 million
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