NSPCC lost 180 donations in one week after Munroe Bergdorf sacking
Munroe Bergdorf was dropped by the NSPCC. (Getty)
The NSPCC saw a rise in the number of cancelled donations in the week that Munroe Bergdorf was unceremoniously dropped as a Childline ambassador.
In the week that the children’s charity dropped Bergdorf without explanation, there were 183 more cancelled donations than usual.
An NSPCC spokesperson said that the number of cancellations was 5 percent higher than in a comparable week in May, according to the not-for-profit and charity publication Third Sector.
They could not confirm what proportion of the cancellations were directly related to Bergdorf’s dismissal, and said that the charity does experience natural fluctuations.
Munroe Bergdorf dropped by NSPCC
Bergdorf, a trans model and activist, announced that she was partnering with Childline (which is operated by the NSPCC) on June 5.
Some 48 hours later on June 7, the charity released a statement confirming that “she will have no ongoing relationship with Childline or the NSPCC.”
Bergdorf suggested that she was dropped as a result of a “transphobic hate campaign on Twitter,” which she said had been launched by The Times journalist Janice Turner.
Yesterday a Times journalist @victoriapeckham decided to launch a transphobic hate campaign on Twitter.
Turner had earlier tweeted: “Hey @NSPCC can you please explain why a children’s safeguarding charity has hired a porn model as a Childline ambassador?”
Bergdorf clarified that she has “never shot porn in my life,” adding that “demonising those who do isn’t ok either.”
She also urged followers to give money to the trans youth charity Mermaids, which Third Sector reported saw a 300 percent rise in donations that same week.
NPSCC apologies to Munroe Bergdorf
After a widespread backlash from the LGBT+ community and its allies, 148 NSPCC employees signed a letter speaking of their “embarrassment and shame” at the handling of the situation.
“We are deeply disappointed about the treatment of Munroe by the organisation. In particular, we are concerned at the NSPCC’s decision to replicate the experience that many trans children and adults experience in being subjected to abuse and ridicule and subsequently abandoned,” said the letter, which was sent on June 10.
Munroe Bergdorf speaks at the Pride In London Gala Dinner 2019. (Venla Shalin/Getty for Pride in London)
The charity’s chief executive Peter Wanless subsequently issued a formal apology.
“We did not intend to cause distress to her, or by implication the wider LGBTQ+ community, and we deeply regret the impact our decision and its implementation had on Munroe and the LGBTQ+ community,” he wrote on June 12.
Bergdorf acknowledged the response on Twitter, adding: “I appreciate the formal apology. This situation has been extremely stressful and unnecessary. I just want to move on from the whole ordeal.”
