'Thrown under the bus!' Children in Need boss who quit over trans row lashes out at scandal-stricken LGBT charity
‘Nobody has a backbone!’ Bev Turner urges BBC staff to ‘speak out’ …
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A former BBC Children in Need chairwoman has claimed she was "thrown under the bus" for speaking out against an LGBT charity.
Rosie Millard resigned from her position in November saying she did not feel she had the full support of her board after she demanded Children in Need stopped funding LGBT Youth Scotland.
The charity was given just under half a million in funding by the BBC organisation across 14 years.
However, Millard told Times Radio, she had discovered the charity had "a lot of problems which I felt would bring Children in Need into reputational damage."
Rosie Millard spoke out against the charity
Getty/PA
The charity was thrown into dispute after its former chief executive, James Rennie, was convicted in 2009 as a ringleader of Scotland's biggest paedophile network.
It acknowledged in a statement on its website that it has had "challenges", noting that a contributor to a coming-out guide published by the charity in 2009 was convicted of crimes against children in 2024. The charity said it condemns "any actions which harm children and young people."
The current chief executive has accused Millard of having "anti-inclusivity motives" and pointing to "historic allegations against us in attempts to destroy our reputation."
While Children in Need did cancel funding to the charity, Millard said she felt she could not stay on as she did not have the support of her board.
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The charity has been criticised in the past
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Millard told Times Radio: "I thought if BBC Children in Need does not cancel its grants to LGBT Youth Scotland, I would resign. In the end, it did cancel the grants, but I felt the board wasn't really with me. You can't chair a board if all the trustees are not in agreement. So I had to go."
When asked about the board not supporting her, Millard said she felt "such is the pressure to appear inclusive, that people bend over backwards to show that they are not prejudiced.
"I felt this charity was harming children, and Children in Need, the mission for Children in Need, is to support and help children, help them be the best they can be and not harm them. If that is being a 'terf' (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) then I'm proud to be one."
"I think my position was made untenable. And I think that if you are the whistleblower, then sometimes you’re going to get thrown under the bus."
A BBC Children in Need spokesman said funding had been immediately suspended when allegations were made regarding the charity, and funding was withdrawn following a three-month investigation. In response to Millard’s latest comments, the spokesman told MailOnline she had always had the support of the board.
He said: "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."
LGBT Youth Scotland chief executive Mhairi Crawford said: "Time and time again, those such as Rosie Millard, who hold 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."
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