An investigation was launched after a teenager battling anorexia was allegedly called a “skeleton” and told she "didn’t deserve help” by staff at a Merseyside charity.
Lucy*, whose name has been changed, started going to The Hive Youth Zone, on Bright Street in Birkenhead, in 2018. The Hive is a youth centre set up in 2017 with the ambition of improving opportunities for people in some of Wirral ’s most deprived areas.
The Hive said in a statement an independent investigation took place but no evidence of 'wrongdoing' was found although some staff did receive refresher training as a result.
Lucy, now 21, told the ECHO she started attending The Hive on a daily basis after leaving college at 17, and said that, at first, she “fitted in really well” at the youth centre. She said: “When I started going, the staff were initially really supportive. About a year on, I started developing anorexia. It was something that gradually happened over time.
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“At first, the staff were great and would always have conversations with me, but as things developed, I became quite bland and numb as a person because of the eating disorder so, gradually, staff became quite distant.”
Lucy claims she got on well with a small group of staff, who started to make her aware of comments that other staff members were making behind her back.
She said: “One of the comments that really affected me was from a staff member who said, ‘I don’t really think she has an eating disorder, I think it’s more attention seeking’. Obviously, anyone with an eating disorder will know that's not the best thing to say about someone with that condition, and it really triggered me at a time when I was already suffering enough. It wasn’t being perceived as a true struggle.”
The Hive offers a variety of activities, as well as mental health support and help in accessing work and education, for young people between the ages of eight and 19. Service users have previously highlighted the charity’s "life-changing" work, with thousands of children in the borough having become members of The Hive in the last five years.
A spokesperson for the charity has confirmed an investigation into the allegations determined no further action was required, however staff did undertake "refresher training" on how to deal with eating disorders.
But Lucy claims that senior management staff, who had a “lot of influence” over the teams below them left her feeling “embarrassed and ashamed” through their actions.
She said: “A staff member I got along with told a senior member of staff they wanted to signpost me for extra help outside of the building. They were told no because I ‘didn’t deserve help because of my behaviour’. That really affected me and I couldn’t understand why I was different from any other young person.”
Lucy alleges a different staff member repeatedly “wanted to shame” her in front of others, on one occasion telling her it looked like she had “two sticks for legs”. The 21-year-old recalls another occasion when the same staff member likened her to a stick man.
She said: “She drew a stick man on a piece of paper and pointed and said, ‘haha that’s what you look like’, in front of other young people. It was so mortifying and I felt so ashamed about how I looked. It was like she was chipping away at me.”
Lucy filed an official complaint with The Hive, which led to a formal investigation. A report seen by the ECHO concluded that "conflicting narratives" from Lucy and staff members meant there was "insufficient evidence", with the alleged statements said to have been "inquisitive and seeking to learn more about eating disorders".
In addition to comments made about her appearance, Lucy claims she was also involved in an incident with a male staff member, which had “inappropriate” sexual undertones.
Lucy said: “He asked for a quick chat and took me into a room alone and, obviously, you aren’t allowed to be on your own with a staff member. He lay down on one of the couches in there and asked how I was. Then he started asking if I was speaking to any lads.
“I was 19 at the time and when I said no, he said, ‘What’s your type? What do you look for in a bloke?’ I literally didn’t know what to say so he said ‘okay if you can’t answer that then what don’t you like in a man?’
“I told him I didn’t really like cheaters, and he said, ‘but what if it's just a sexual attraction’.”
Lucy told the ECHO it was a “very inappropriate conversation” between a 19-year-old and an adult member of staff, and the fact no one else was present in the room meant the incident was “just so beyond the breaching of rules”.
After discussing the incident with another staff member, Lucy claims was told he was “just being really friendly” and said staff "failed to report” her concerns. Reports shared with the ECHO show that internal processes were not followed by staff to report the allegation in a timely manner.
After four years at The Hive, Lucy stopped attending the service in 2021. She attributes the reason she didn’t leave sooner to a fear of “not being able to socialise and make friends” elsewhere.
She said her time at the youth centre left her with “a lot of issues” and felt the results of the investigation were "not at all acceptable".
Lucy said: “Being made out to be a liar and gaslighted in a way to believe things didn’t happen had an extreme effect on me. When someone speaks up and they practically say it never happened, that must be one of the worst things you can do.”
Lucy is now undergoing therapy to help work through some of the effects of her time at the youth centre.
She said: “When I left, I was in a bad place because I was almost digesting what had happened. I’d finally come away from the building and I’d been there so often that there was no time to breathe. My mum and family were really supportive.
"It took me a bit of time but I’m recovering now and I’m in a much better headspace and have a lot more self-respect.”
A spokesperson for The Hive said: “The safety and wellbeing of young people is our number one priority and, as such, we have strong and robust safeguarding processes in place.
“An investigation into these serious allegations was undertaken as soon as we were made aware of them. The independent panel found there to have been no wrongdoing by any members of our team and therefore no further action was taken.
"We did undertake some refresher training following the complaint to ensure our processes remain robust.”
*not her real name
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