So that's why Susie Green left

I don't think its like kids company.

That was much more restricted in its problems: they were primarily financial and arguably the beneficiaries of the charity were those employed by it. Its one of those charities which existed for benefit of the charity not its end users. This was highlighted particularly because of the lack of study on the outcomes for those the charity was supposed to help and the deliberately misleading inflation of figures about how many they helped which were very clearly false.

I think that's more reflective of generalised problems of this nature within the charity sector, but because it was high profile, attracted celebrity support without question, involved children and went bang in spectacular fashion thats why parallels are made. That then was compounded by police investigations into safeguarding fails that never produced anything.

Mermaids differs in that we clear and obvious safeguarding fails before questions about financial impropriety surfacing (i suspect they will eventually follow). Mermaids has actually been found guilty of a data breach by the relevant authority and you have a court case where Mermaids were told by a judge to stay away. Even Mermaids supporters are largely critical of the Breslow failure in recruitment.

The lack of follow up of outcomes (both within Mermaids and on a wider level with treatment) is much more significant as it involves advocating physical intervention rather merely social. That goes against medical ethics protocols. So raises huge questions about other institutions and agencies who have actively ignored their own rules following an organised campaign. That has ramifications way beyond the charity.

I do think this one is more about bubbles of social pressure which have gone unchecked and run riot through the use of social media which have neglected traditional checks and balances on power.

This is a lesson for our age which goes through every single institution.

Kids Company was about kids company. It carried warning signs about how far this could go, but the scale of Mermaids influence far outshines it.

#Public Inquiry now.

Thanks rethinking. Yes I agree, encyclopaedic.

There's some sort of hoo har over an American navy seal on twitter at the moment who's detransitioned - I've seen clips of his wife describing the ideology as a cult, and commenting on the trap that parents are in.

Unfortunately I fear that because it's the q anon crowd adopting this view too that most leftists will ignore / dismiss the descriptions.

Yes I think so @RethinkingLife I do actually support organisations being led by the people who should benefit from what the organisation does. Who understands better the needs of e.g. Deaf people than someone who is Deaf?

I think the thing with mermaids is I question the benefit to children of telling them that if they don’t adhere to certain stereotypes and behaviours it means they’re a girl rather than a boy. Mermaids CEO being a trans adult would mean nothing but affirmation, no neutrality at all. And that’s the thing for me, i don’t believe in gender identity & I certainly don’t think there should be any charity at all promoting the idea that you can change your sex to children.

i guess it’s like so many things. When ULOs became much more of a thing, I don’t think anyone thought that there could potentially be ULO orgs that would promote lifelong medicalisation to children

@hoodathunkit, I think. Well worth reading as the knowledge is encyclopaedic.

😂😜
So funny.

Speaking of, Hoodathinkit (I think she was called) wrote a LOT about cults here.

Your posts are excellent redtoothbrush, I've also save a few.

It's no coincidence that "culture" has become a particular area of safeguarding scrutiny in the last decade. A culture of an organisation, due to influence of particular individual overbearing personalities allows safeguarding issues to go unchallenged.

A culture can quickly deteriorate into a cult.

Thanks. I am off on Snark hunt - feeling feisty. Banned from Twitter and I am not admitting fault to get back on (Utterly bobbins is not a hateful phrase)

Oh Marg.... Marg.... where are you....?!?!

The irony is - Mermaids was originally set up as a peer-to-peer support network for parents.

Kids shouldn't have been anywhere near the organisation. It was for adults to discuss options about their children with other adults in the same position.

However, wouldn't that also align with the increasing demand for user-led organisations and services? (ULO)

including complaints that she was not transgender, I missed this nugget... in the first line too! Hoist by her own petard 😅

They clearly lie about an awful lot then.

Me too . That article is quite astounding! I am now guessing that the 'attacks and abuse' staff were receiving that meant the helpline was closed were not from the outside in...

Internal revolt! Whoda thunk it?!?!

The latter, Samphire.

I reckon it's worse, they have been influencing government policy

www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/scottish-government-urged-come-clean-28165035

Scuse the laziness...

Has there been any input on this thread from our 2 mates RMW and Marg?

Or are they conspicuously absent?

Interesting thought MrsJamin.

I also know there's been speculation Mermaids is another Kids Company but as it goes on, I don't see that at all. For one thing, the government is not throwing £££ at them.

Apologies, I've lost the thread pace since last night!

Yeah I put up an archive link last night @WarriorN , back on page 15 of this thread. But good to keep it at the front of our heads!

"A whistleblower has revealed disarray and anger within the charity’s Leeds and London offices.

The boss faced a staff backlash over her “incapable” leadership, culminating in a “nail in the coffin” report that trustees received last week.

The internal audit, launched earlier this year by the Social Justice Collective (SJC), a diversity group, is understood to be highly critical of Ms Green’s handling of complaints of racism, safeguarding, the vetting of trustees and her “shoving her head in the sand”."

Not sure if this link will work:

web.archive.org/web/20221202221101/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/02/mermaids-boss-forced-staff-revolted-against-incapable-leadership/

Is there any chance the whistleblower is our friend Darren Mew? He/they/she/ze tweeted with glee when Susie left last week?

I found this www.dailysignal.com/2021/06/07/my-woke-employees-tried-to-cancel-me-heres-how-i-fought-back-and-saved-my-nonprofit/ interesting. A nonprofit director found that their woke young employees (many who were clinically trained professionals) turned on them. Here's a segment of the blog which was trying to advise other directors how to manage young woke employees:

Your woke assailants will accuse you of ineptitude, the inability to perceive reality, or even immorality based on your identity—by which I mean, the characteristics you can’t change about yourself. Your identity can even disqualify you from talking about certain subjects.

For example, they will demand your silence in your conversations... They will suggest you do “harm” or “violence” if you are “cis-gendered” and attempt to engage in conversation on gender identity.

Therefore, only those who have a certain “social position” due to their identity can perceive or speak truth on topics related to their identity.

I think Susie was silenced from within Mermaids as she was told she could not talk about trans issues as she was not trans, therefore the trustees asked her to go as she could not lead them due to her censure by the trans ranks.

Yes @guinnessguzzler exactly that! I wonder as well (given how much mermaids had cornered the market so to speak) of those staff members had been users of mermaids services. I can’t imagine there was very much in the way of clear boundary lines at all & I suspect any attempt to draw them would have resulted in mass cries of transphobia/literal violence

twitter.com/ripx4nutmeg/status/1598956852905058304?s=46&t=in61D2eTPiU6datgKZmaYA

Brilliant, fascinating post, @RedToothBrush .

Apologies, is this a new telegraph story?

So this investigation is going to take 9 months plus 3 to publish.

As Safeguarding children is the main reason they are being investigated, surely the Charity cannot carry on? How many more children are going to be damaged whist the CC do their job?