National Lottery to give grant to transgender children's group

The National Lottery Community Fund has confirmed it will give the charity Mermaids, which supports transgender children, a grant of £500,000 over the course of five years after an initial outcry at the funding prompted a review.

Mermaids, formed in 1995, is a UK charity providing support and advice to transgender or non-gender-conforming children. The charity has recently come under sustained criticism about its approach and practice.

The National Lottery Community Fund, formerly known as the Big Lottery Fund, announced in December it would be supporting Mermaids with a grant of £500,000 over the course of five years. The news was quickly met by anger by some campaigners, with The Times’ Janice Turner accusing Mermaids of spreading “cod science”.

The National Lottery Community Fund received over 800 responses from the public, both in support and against the decision to award the grant. Following the backlash, the organisation announced it would be reviewing its funding decision.

The 40-page review, published today, summarises the concerns raised against Mermaids. The charity was accused of prematurely pushing for life-altering medical interventions, promoting questionable statistics in relation to the suicide risk of trans children, and adopting an approach that is is contrary to scientific evidence. The charity denied all allegations.

The review concluded the National Lottery Community Fund did not find any grounds to withhold the grant.

In a statement, the fund said: “Following public interest regarding the proposed grant to Mermaids UK, The National Lottery Community Fund undertook a review of a number of concerns expressed in relation to the charity. This review did not find any grounds to withhold funding from Mermaids UK. The grant has therefore been approved by the England Funding Committee.

“As part of our grant management process, we will work closely with Mermaids UK to ensure they are supported in their development.”

Susie Green, the CEO of Mermaids, said: “The review process was very transparent and open, the community fund talked us through the steps that would be taken and gave full disclosure of the issues that were raised, and the progress of the investigations into the allegations made. We were given full opportunity to respond and discuss, and expected timelines for the review process itself.

“Mermaids is now looking forward to delivering the project in partnership with the National Lottery Community Fund, and are delighted that the outcome is so positive for us and the children, young people and families we support.”

A Stonewall spokesperson said: ‘This is fantastic news for Mermaids and this funding will make a huge difference in the lives of trans young people and their families in the UK.”