Thank you for the apology Hugh. It is a pity you have put Mermaids in such a bad light through your post on here. Your post today has also given me the chance to respond. I do not hold a grudge against Mermaids. It is a wonderful organisation when it gets things right and was an immense support to me and many others. But Mermaids is not a thing, it is the people who run it. Sometimes they get things wrong. If you were/are a committee member you will know that the concerns I raised were valid and that subsequent events proved them so. Your apology above will never make up for the lack of apology from Mermaids when my concerns were proved correct.
When I heard about that I did not feel exonerated from the accusations that I was a liar. I just felt regret that I left instead of fighting for what I knew to be the right thing.
You are correct that I was not thrown out of Mermaids. I never said I was. There was no need to mention anything about my child's medical history or give personal details about me. Yes I know Mumsnet members won't know who I am but you must know that having private information put on here would be upsetting. I suggest that is why you did it, to get back at me for making valid comments.
You are sorry you used my name but not sorry for what you said. I am quite entitled to change my mind about the advisability of my past actions. Bear in mind that I was vulnerable and open to be persuaded by others who seemed to have more experience than I. Which is the crux of the problem and parents need to be aware that they may be being advised by those with no formal training or qualifications in the advice they are giving. I am not a hypocrite for giving opinions about something which appear contrary to my past actions/beliefs. It is called learning more about a subject, reflecting on and possibly changing those beliefs and thereby forming different opinions.
I also left Mermaids at the time my child protection concerns were disregarded becauseSusie Green was looking to convert Mermaids to charity status in order that they could pay staff with no qualifications, taking funding and donations to support that. I disagreed with that and could not be part of it. On reflection I should have stayed long enough to get that across. But with 3 out of 5 people (who I thought were friends) on the committee totally against me it was too much. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but not really much use axcept to learn from.
I do not wish to engage in any further discussion with you or anybody from Mermaids so don't be surprised if I fail to reply to any further posts by you or anyone else from Mermaids who comes on here.
So I wish Mermaids well and hope that the organisation is still able to support families in the future.