National Bullying Helpline attacks patrons who resigned

News

National Bullying Helpline attacks patrons who resigned 3

Governance | Vibeka Mair | 24 Feb 2010

The National Bullying Helpline has attacked its patrons on its website following their decision to resign following the Gordon Brown bullying row.

Christine Pratt, chief executive of NBH, has faced fierce criticism for her decision to reveal that civil service employees phoned the helpline with concerns about PM Gordon Brown.

In response, all of its patrons including Tory MP Ann Widdecome have resigned, complaining that Pratt has breached caller confidentiality.

In a statement on its website the NBH complained that all its patrons had “resigned at a time when it needed them most” and were never dedicated to the charity anyway.

“It is a shame that not one of them ever visited our charity offices to see how we operate or met with our volunteers and trustees, despite requests.”

The statement also said that NBH has temporarily suspended its helpline because “competitor anti-bullying charities, individuals with an axe to grind and a few others have forced our hand”.

Earlier this week, fellow anti-abuse charity Bullying UK complained it was being mistaken for NBH and getting complaints about the confidentiality breach.

According to the statement Pratt is prepared to resign if necessary, but it warned that “this will necessitate the appointment of a paid CEO which is a luxury we have not been able to afford in the past. We have very limited funds.”

Patrons Widdecombe, Professor Cary Cooper, TV presenter Sarah Cawood and Tory councillor for Hillingdon Mary O'Connor have all severed ties with the charity since the story broke on the weekend.

Widdecombe (pictured) said that it was crucial for the helpline to respect callers’ anonymity.

“It’s like a priest in the confessional. You don't do it. I wish she hadn't done it,” said Widdecombe. “It's very easy to imagine Downing Street now looking at the computer to see who is on the website.”

Further, a fourth named patron on the charity's website, singer Mz Bratt, says she had never officially taken up the role.

A spokesman said: "Mz Bratt was never confirmed as an official patron for the Charity in question. We had some initial discussions with Christine [Pratt], but have never confirmed Mz Bratt as a patron of this charity and were surprised to see her name on the charity's website as a patron."

Meanwhile, according to press reports, Pratt is now under the wing of PR guru Max Clifford who is advising her how to proceed.

Who's Who: Stefan Marseglia

Place a comment

Stephen Elsden
Chief Executive
Compaid
26 Feb 2010

Karen,

We know where one Trustee was in all of this - living with his wife who is the Chief Executive!

Good to see that the Charity Commission are now taking firm action, but I'm bemused why NBH was allowed to register in the first place, when there seem to be other, longer established charities that provide the same service. And surely the conflict of interest I've outlined above should have concerned the Commission from the outset?

[Reply]

Karen Drury
partner
fe3 consulting
25 Feb 2010

What a shame she didn't take the PR advice BEFORE opening her mouth! What a mess.

And surely, the whole idea of a helpline is to maintain confidentiality? one can only assume that Ms Pratt thought it would be a good way to cash in on the rift in the Labour Party.

A CEO is supposed to be a leader and one that regardless of salary, is tasked with protecting the reputation of the organisation. And in all this, where were the Trustees? Do they not also have a responsibility for the organisation's reputation too? Were there NO dissenting voices for this course of action?

[Reply]

Stephen Elsden
Chief executive
Compaid
24 Feb 2010

Any charity stands or falls on the strength of its relationship with its supporters and the public at large. If NBH were happy to promote its patrons on its website and communications, it seems disingenuous at the least to make this statement now. Ms Pratt clearly needs some urgent PR advice here.

[Reply]

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

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.