Potential Systemic Safeguarding failures in NSPCC / Childline illustrated by appointment & ending of relationship with Munroe Bergdorf Thread 2

[R0wantrees]

link to previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3605120-Munroe-Childline-s-first-LGBT-campaigner

NSPCC statement by CEO Peter Wanless
www.nspcc.org.uk/what-we-do/news-opinion/munroe-bergdorf

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3609218-Hi-from-Safe-Schools-Alliance-UK

I’m gonna take a wild guess and assume that Melanie is one of the 148 staff signatories.

How can none of their "ambassadors" have been trained in any way about safeguarding. Surely as part of their contracts they would be told (as it's likely to happen) that kids may approach them with problems and this is what to do...

Working with the vulnerable and literally every job interview I have ever atttended has included a question about safeguarding. These are the most B A S I C principles they are flouting. I mean honestly does any adult need to be told that talking privately to children online is a massive NO NO.

Normalising

Fogging

Blurred boundaries

Regulatory capture

Red flags 🚩

You would have thought so Lippy but that clearly has not been the case.

As sometimes happens with these big charities, the focus can shift from the reason for their existence, e.g. preventing child abuse, to maintaining the institution itself.

I wonder if this has been reported to the charity commission by the NSPCC?

It feels that it meets the definition of results in or risking serious to the charity's work or reputation.

It is really worrisome when NSPCC staff openly admit to entering into private conversations with children via social media. The staff member clearly thought that the charities own guidance did not apply to her.

What does that say about the culture of the organisation.

Sorry..reported to the charity commission as a serious incident

Sorry..I am waffling now, but I am just so dumb founded. Are any other staff members going to public admit to ignoring their own organisations guidance?

This could be a new "I am Sparticus"

This person is a 'content creator' for the NSPCC, apparently.

& the employee with apparent serious boundary issues also created content & publications for the NSPCC.

This is further evidence of the disconnect.
People skilled in marketing & Social Media are creating content despite clearly not understanding basic Safeguarding & having no experience in Child Protection.

The key skills needed for all NSPCC publications should be those of experienced qualified Social Workers & child care experts not marketing people.

As sometimes happens with these big charities, the focus can shift from the reason for their existence, e.g. preventing child abuse, to maintaining the institution itself.

This was identified by Charity Commission as a key fault with Oxfam in the report this week.
Prioritisation of growing brand & protecting donors over Safeguarding children.

I know @DJLippy

I work in social care and safeguarding is paramount not just to protect our users but to protect staff as well. This also includes training around boundaries, the necessity of professional distance (you are not a friend/family member) and the importance of documenting every encounter to ensure no accusations or incidents can occur either way. Everything has to be done within a framework.

The commercial arm of the NSPCC do not understand the purpose, history and role of the organisation, nor its policies and principles.

They just spout spin and pr to create a brand and generate revenue (and to give themselves a job) without thought to those rather important underpinning things - which are rather inconveniently the bits held up in law by the charity commission.

slow hand clap for neo-liberalism

Either his CV is inflated bullshit or he met someone influential who helped him bypass the middle stages.

This person?
twitter.com/kyrstypops?lang=en
"Celebrity & Talent Management, Former PR Manager. Fashion aficionado. And yes, it's Kyrsty with a 'y"

She is former PR manager for Ann Summers and appears to have deleted "Celebrity & Talent Management @ nspcc" from her Twitter bio?

Have I read this correctly? A member of staff at the NSPCC is posting that she regularly gives her private contact details to children as young as 11? So she's operating outside the NSPCC framework and is arguing that it's fine for her to do this?

Sorry for sounding clueless but I'm finding it hard to believe what is happening in the UK's leading children's safeguarding charity. How many other adults in that charity are doing this? This is a complete failure of the most basic safeguarding practice.

A reminder of their complaints procedure:
www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/about-us/compliments-comments-complaints-policy.pdf

This all reminds me of an incident at work about ten years ago.

We had a young assistant, a recent graduate, come to work for a department in a PR capacity, and said person was given the responsibility for the department's Twitter account. After a month, I had to step in because the nature of the tweets sent and retweeted were not appropriate for the institution. They were far too political.

In short, this assistant ran the account as though it was a forum for his own personal perspectives and beliefs. When we spoke to him about it, it became clear that he thought he had been hired because we wanted him "as a personality" a bit like, say, hiring Chris Evans to present a radio show rather than hiring him because we just wanted an intelligent person to do a job.

I see something similar in the tweet from Melanie. There's no understanding of the distinction between the public and private self.

It also raises the issue as to how much direct contact with children these NSPCC staff 'not working directly with children' do actually have?

This seems relevant again!

(It’s a parody, and I say this because it’s hard to tell these days)

I wonder if we shouldn't send paper copies of his article to the BBC, Guardian, Independent, Mail Online editors who have responsibility for people identifying as journalists with clear training needs?

That gave me such a smile.

Thank you everyone for all the really informative, and sometimes hilarious, posts.

The more I think about this, the more I blame the NSPCC rather than the person who head-hunted MB. That person's LinkedIn profile, blogs, employment history all gave clues about his interests. It was up to the HR dept in NSPCC to due diligence, they didn't, and that person is now knee-deep in a scandal that could/should have been avoided.

Not to mention the fact that uses of twitter and Instagram ect are supposed to be 13 and over. I know children are using these sites but it doesn't change the fact that if you have an 11 or 12 year old message you and you say you have worked for the NSPCC, you should most definitely not engage with a child, and a child that should not be on the platform in the first place. And what is she talking about, it's OK because she's not trans? Who said it's OK. Maybe the same people who say it's OK to masturbate in work toilets and upload to a porn site?

There's no understanding of the distinction between the public and private self.

This seems to be a feature of the internet generation, their attitude to work, education, etc.

The more I think about this, the more I blame the NSPCC rather than the person who head-hunted MB. That person's LinkedIn profile, blogs, employment history all gave clues about his interests. It was up to the HR dept in NSPCC to due diligence, they didn't, and that person is now knee-deep in a scandal that could/should have been avoided.

Absolutely this is the issue.

THe NSPCC has systemic failures & what is being seen in this furore are the consequences of this.

There will be other much more serious consequences.

THe NSPCC has systemic failures & what is being seen in this furore are the consequences of this.

There will be other much more serious consequences.

The same issues will be true for many other public services, charities & organisations which have failed to centre Safeguarding & Child Protection principles.

I’m tearing up the latest (in a long line) of NSPCC school fundraising requests. Even apart from the scandal hiding in plain sight here, I don’t want to support an organisation that will spend my child’s pennies on a fecking celebrity manager. FFS. Grassroots charities and campaigns from now on. Thankfully my employer has already ceased the relentless NSPCC fundraising campaign it was running for the last few years. NSPCC is starting to look a charity primarily focused on employment opportunities for the woke.

And (BTW LOJ feel free to screenshot this one) I don’t think Bergdof is to blame for anything here except perhaps going public on their work with NSPCC if they did not have permission to do so. NSPCC have royally fucked up and in doing so they have enabled the can of safeguarding worms to be opened. Roll on Sunday newspapers.

the more I blame the NSPCC

How difficult was it for other employees to raise concerns about overstepped boundaries, when managers merely slapped the wrists of a man in serious breach of the NSPCC's own code of conduct?

Presumably someone complained, in December 2018. How must they have felt?