Lauren Stoner has been appointed permanent chief executive at Mermaids after taking the role on a temporary basis just over a year ago.

The former CEO of sexual violence victims support charity SV2 was appointed to lead Mermaids on a temporary basis in December 2022.

Its last permanent CEO was Susie Green, who left in November 2022 having led the transgender charity for six years.

The charity has confirmed that Stoner has been appointed to the role on a permanent basis on a two-year fixed term contact after “steering the organisation through challenging times”.

She joined in 2022 amid an ongoing Charity Commission investigation into allegations of safeguarding failures at the charity.

The regulator’s initial probe was escalated to a statutory inquiry in 2022 after it identified governance and management concerns.

“Lauren has demonstrated impressive leadership, implemented new working practices and, in particular, begun the crucial process of improving the culture at Mermaids,” said the charity’s chair Kathryn Downs.

“Her leadership on EDI matters has been strong and the new strategy for 2024-2027, co-created with our community and all of our people, lays out a path for the future.”

She added: “As the organisation looks to transform itself, I’m honoured to be able to support Lauren and the wider team to deliver some exciting changes.”

Stoner said that “over the last year the opportunities to met young people and families and understand the impact of our work has been a real highlight.”

In reference to the right-wing culture war criticism levelled at the charity and the transgender community in recent years, Stoner said: “I’ve never worked in an organisation experiencing this level of hostility and external scrutiny, and that is phenomenally taxing for everyone who works and volunteers at Mermaids”.

She added: “I’ve been blown away by the strength and resilience of our people, and the support from our community and allies, which enables us to support children, young people and their families and campaign for better education and healthcare, in the face of this hostility.”

When she was appointed, Stoner pledged to develop an improvement plan within 100 days.

The charity has since produced a three-year strategy outlining its plans up to 2027.

This lays out its values as being a youth centred, collaborative, trustworthy and compassionate charity.

Last October Mermaids quit the social media platform X, which was formerly known as Twitter, to protect its supporters and beneficiaries, and instead launched a TikTok account.

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