Online bullying specialist Bullying UK will close at the end of the month unless it can raise £50,000, its chief executive has warned.

Formerly known as Bullying Online, the charity has been running for 12 years but CEO and founder John Carnell says it has been hit by a fall in corporate support.

“In past years the charity has relied on the help of businesses across the UK to support our work in the absence of any government grants, but the financial crisis means it has been difficult to source corporate help.”

The charity needs the funding by 1 September in order to commit to a programme of work for the next school year.

In 2006 it received a legacy donation worth £190,000 which enabled it to rebrand and for Carnell to become a full-time employee, but since then income has failed to keep pace with expenditure.

In 2008/09, the charity’s expenditure stood at £79,866, more than double its income of £36,604.

It supplies more than 150,000 leaflets to schools and youth organisations each year, provides counselling via email and has an iPhone app and mobile website.

Carnell said the charity had attempted to access government funding but been denied. “We must be one of the most cost-effective children’s charities in the UK.

“If Bullying UK shuts down, the government will need to provide two fully trained civil servants 24/7, 365 days a year, with an expertise to advise not only on complex education complaints, special needs and school appeal tribunals but to deal with suicidal children, school refusers, children suffering psychological problems and parents involved with social services and the police.”

Donations can be made at http://www.justgiving.com/SaveBullyingUK

The serious case review into the death of 7 year old Khyra Ishaq was finally released. Its the first report to be fully disclosed- a major step away from the days when only a brief executive summary was issued.

Children’s Minister Tim Loughton has rightly been boasting of his government’s committment to publish in full as demonstrated in the Ishaq case.

However, while the full disclosure of the Ishaq case is to be welcomed, there’s one case from the past that needs to be looked at again: that of Antoine and Keniece Ogunkoya.

Killed by their mentally ill mother in Hackney, their father Jimi has been campaigning with the Victoria Climbié Foundation for the serious case report to be made public. They believe that it is only with full disclosure that any lessons will be learnt.

I have to say that I agree. As it stands, the social work management and staff as well as all the other agencies involved don’t actually know what the report says. The wider Ogunkoya family and the public don’t know why those two children were killed. They don’t know what failings led to their death, or what changes should be made.

Most importantly, they won’t be able to hold social services to account or ensure that anyone is held responsible.

When your children have been killed, the least you can expect is an assurance that the truth about their deaths would be told.

So if Loughton can see to it that future serious case reviews are made public, how hard would it be to see that past SCRs are also made public, especially in this tragic case when a father is desperately seeking closure?

Tim Loughton MP- new Children's Minister

Dear Tim,

In the run up to the general election, both of the parties now in the coalition government made specific promises about changes to the way that serious case reviews into the deaths of children would be carried out.  

Top of the list was a pledge by your party to allow local authorities to fully disclose SCR reports.

We are very pleased to see that the this pledge remains in the recently revealed coalition agreement. The Victoria Climbié Foundation (VCF) welcomes the decision by the coalition government to publish serious case reviews in full.

 As you may recall, we have campaigned for the full publication of serious case reviews since 2008 following the tragic deaths of Antoine and Keniece Ogunkoya at the hands of their mentally ill mother. Over the past two years, our call for full publication has been repeated in light of further child deaths. We fervently believe that full disclosure will give local authorities and agencies the best chance to learn the lessons of their mistakes in such tragic circumstances. This decision for full publication will enhance transparency in the process; bring comfort to families during this difficult period; and restore public trust.

However, while it is still early days of this decision, many local authorities are unclear as to how this new decision will be implemented.

Having been constrained in what they can say for the past number of years, the parameters of their freedom are yet to be set. There is a clear need for the government to produce guidance on this new approach and ensure that local authorities are capable of producing SCR reports that serve the ultimate purpose of detailing what and where changes need to be made, and how such changes will protect our children. Part of that process will be utilising innovative ways to ensure that families are fully engaged in the process of serious case reviews.

Without proper family engagement, merely publishing the reviews, albeit in full, will continue to disenfranchise families and lead to further mistrust in the process. We trust that your government is committed to this and we look forward to your response.

Mor Dioum

VCF Director

The store management explained that the decision was taken to reduce the price in order to clear the stock for a new line of dolls.

Many commentators expressed their upset that the pricing policy of the store could inadvertently send the message to young black children that the dolls that represented ‘their colour’ were somehow of a lesser value.

Undoubtedly there are concerns that that may happen. Black people, and black girls in particular, have long suffered the indignities of seeing lighter skin, smaller lips, and straighter noses being praised as the epitome  to which they must aspire.

However, the remarks of the store management is also telling-  A spokesperson said the doll was marked down because fewer people were buying it.

White and black parents, it seems, aren’t that keen on buying their children black dolls. It reminded me of the bias that has affected  glossy magazines as well.

White women tend not to buy a glossy magazine with a black woman on the cover. There are, of course, exceptions to this – Beyonce, Halle Berry, and Rihanna occasionally grace the covers of popular magazines and they sell well. As a general rule of thumb however, stylists and editors shy away from putting a black woman on the cover- it simply doesn’t sell as much. That’s why there was such a fuss when Italian Vogue went for a special issue using black models. An underground campaign to get people to buy it and highlight just how groundbreaking a move it was, circulated widely and was reported in the media.

But how can we call for beautiful black models to grace the covers of our magazines, if we won’t even buy beautiful black dolls for our daughters? Through sheer unavailability over the years, black girls may be more likely to own white dolls- how bout getting more white girls playing with black dolls?