Share

Pratting about - the National Bullying Helpline scandal

Pratting about - the National Bullying Helpline scandal
Blogs

Pratting about - the National Bullying Helpline scandal

Fundraising | Suzie Who | 24 Feb 2010

Pressure is mounting on Christine Pratt to resign from her role as chief executive of the National Bullying Helpline following her public revelations about calls made to the helpline by distressed staff from Number 10 Downing Street.

All her patrons have severed ties with the organisations amid concerns that she has breached confidentiality.

Pratt continues to deny that she has done this (presumably because she has not revealed the actual names and addresses of the distressed callers).

Whether or not her revelations breach confidentiality is serious enough but for me the most critical issue is whether her actions undermine her organisation’s ability to fulfill its charitable purpose.

The National Bullying Helpline, like all charities, was presumably established for the public good. It exists to offer support to individuals who have nowhere else to turn, primarily by offering a confidential helpline - a valuable offer by anyone's standards.

What the charity does not exist to do is to play a role in party politics.

In the run-up to a general election a charity publicly attacking the current Prime Minister can surely not be seen as politically neutral.

When charity coalitions such as Make Poverty History were prevented from running adverts on TV about the need to end poverty because they were ‘too political’ surely something is wrong if charity heads such as Mrs Pratt can espouse such contentious and inflammatory views that are not just political but party political.

The fact that her public revelations have led to the suspension of her charitable activity is a tragic outcome for all those who would have found the helpline invaluable.

I’m surprised to hear myself say it but it does seem that sometimes charities can get too involved in politics.

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

  • Robust but respectful debate
  • Strongly held opinions
  • Intelligent relevant discussion
  • The sharing of relevant experiences
  • New participants

We will not publish:

  • Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
  • Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
  • The posting of contact details for yourself or others
  • Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
  • Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
  • Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
  • Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
  • The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

  • Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
  • Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
  • You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

  • Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
  • Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.

Tags

Should you be saying no to your FRS17 pension report?

7 Feb 2012

Yes and no are not the only options available when it comes to FRS17 pension reports, says David Davison.

Hold tight - we're moving!

6 Feb 2012

Robert Ashton outlines the benefits of investing in community development finance institutions.

Time management: execute with excellence

2 Feb 2012

Allocating time appropriately between strategy and operations is, says John Tate, the key to business...

The sector needs to better support its women, says Rowena Lewis

7 Feb 2012

As the sector dedicated to social justice, why are charities not making better progress at smashing the...

Don’t just stand there shouting, say something useful

23 Jan 2012

Opposing the status quo is all well and good, says Robert Ashton, but much more effective if you can propose...

Return from Haiti: a new focus on governance

23 Jan 2012

Back from serving in Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake, Andrew Chaggar's mind is focused on...

emailalert