- Exclusive: Controversial charity 'Educate and Celebrate' shuts down
- LGBTQ+ charity finally comes to an end after years of controversy
A controversial education charity that encouraged children as young as three to question their gender has mysteriously closed down, MailOnline can reveal.
LGBTQ+ charity Educate and Celebrate was founded by Dr Ellie Burns, a teacher who received an MBE for her contribution to equality and diversity in education, but her charity and herself have since been hit by scandal. It's shaking.
Educate and Celebrate said it wanted to “embed gender, gender identity and sexual orientation” within its organizations, including primary schools, when running the scheme.
But the charity was shut down after a series of controversies, including encouraging three-year-olds to ask questions about their gender and attempting to replace “sir” and “miss” with gender-neutral terms.
The latest accounts reveal a deficit of more than £30,000 between expenditure and income.
The charity formally requested closure on January 3. The group will now be removed from the government's website as a registered charity within three months.
When contacted by MailOnline, the charity did not confirm the exact reason for the closure, but suggested its work was not over yet.
“It was our decision to close the charity,” said board president Julie Bremner, who has been a public servant for 31 years.
“We all have long served teachers, school leaders, and academics who have dedicated their careers to inclusion in education.
“We will continue this much-needed work through new projects.”
Dr Ellie Burns, founder of Educate and Celebrate, appeared to be on the brink of another success after winning the 'Information' award for her Pride-themed alphabet learning book for three-year-olds.
The book's description said, “ABC Pride introduces young readers to the alphabet through the colorful world of Pride.”
“While children discover letters and words, they can learn more about the LGBTQIA+ community and how to be inclusive.”
However, just a few months later, the charity founded by Dr Burns was to close down. Both the charity and Dr. Burns' websites are no longer online.
Lucy Marsh, from the Family Education Trust, told MailOnline: “Dr. Ellie Burns has been open about her plans to shatter heteronormativity in schools, so it's hard to believe that people from this organization are allowed access to children, because they clearly Because they want to inculcate their ideas.'' An agenda that promotes queer theory and gender ideology.
“We would like to see it shut down forever rather than reinvented under a new name to continue to sexualize and indoctrinate our children.
“The government should crack down on third-party RSE organizations operating freely within schools.”
“Organizations that engage in activities that indoctrinate children in this way should not engage in charity work.”
In 2017, the charity added books that encourage children to question their gender to nursery and primary school reading lists. This means that children as young as 3 years old will be reading the book.
Just last year, a teacher was filmed reading to children at a school in St Albans.
The recording was revealed last year by MailOnline, which revealed shocking lesson plans in which children are taught about anal sex and orgasms before they reach puberty, and are encouraged to do so in “private” if they wish to masturbate. It was published after.
In 2021, the charity was embroiled in a bitter dispute between a fee-paying boarding school and a Christian minister who was sacked for refusing to chant “break heteronormativity”.
The Reverend Bernard Randall, 51, of Long Eaton, Derbyshire, speaks to Dr Ellie Burns, leader of 'Education and Celebrations', during a class at the independent Trent College in Long Eaton, Derbyshire. Although I was encouraged to do so, I did not participate in the chant.
Pastor Randall was fired from Trent University after the university reported him to a government prevention program for preaching harmful to “LGBT'' students.
Police investigated the tip, but informed the school via email that Dr Randall “posed no counter-terrorism or radicalization risk.”
In his sermon, he said children are not forced to “accept ideologies with which they do not agree” and that “marriage can only be properly understood as a lifelong, exclusive union of two men.” It is entirely legitimate to think that it should be done.” woman'.
Two years after being fired, the pastor lost his wrongful termination lawsuit.
At the time, he told the Mail that this was a “blow to free speech and Christian freedom.”
In 2022, it emerged that Dr Ellie Burns had been criticized by the government for telling teachers they should move towards a “gender-free model” in education.
meanwhile Sessions funded by the National Education Union; Dr. Burns recommended removing words like “boy,” “girl,” “son,” and “mother” and replacing them with gender-neutral phrases.
Her surprising proposals were criticized by the Department for Education (DfE).
A DfE spokesperson said the proposals were “inappropriate and completely unnecessary”.
They added: “This should not happen in our classrooms.”
Later that year, Educate and Celebrate was embroiled in further controversy after one of its patrons, a trans comic named Jordan Gray, stripped naked and exposed his penis during a television skit. .
During a revival of Channel 4's Friday Night Live, Gray was completing an expletive-laden song about being a trans woman when she heard patrons of “Educate and Celebrate'' cheering. I took my clothes off in front of a huge audience.
Critics branded the gimmick “disgraceful” and “offensive” after more than 1,400 viewers complained to broadcast watchdog Ofcom.
The charity Educate and Celebrate cited the lewd skit and announced that it had removed the performers from its patronage.
Ms Gray claimed she was going to schools to “talk about gender” on behalf of Educate and Celebrate, adding: “It's something that young children pick up on very quickly.”
However, the charity said in a statement that it did not believe Mr Gray had “never attended school” for the organization or commissioned any work for it.
A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said: “On 3 January 2024, the trustees of Educate and Celebrate confirmed that the charity had achieved its objectives and all remaining funds were dedicated to furthering its objectives. We have submitted a notice of dissolution, along with a declaration, to the committee.”
“As a Charitable Organization (CIO), the Commission, in accordance with the provisions of the CIO, will post a notice on our website informing us of our intention to dissolve the CIO after the required three month notice period. has prompted the charity's dismissal process.'' Expired. '
