A psychologist at Kids Company has pleaded for a second chance at her career after being found to have given illegal drugs to a vulnerable youngster she met through the charity.



Helen Winter sobbed as she told a health and care professions council (HCPC) disciplinary hearing that she realised her actions may have discredited her profession and threatened to overshadow the work done by her colleagues.

Winter told the HCPC, which is considering whether she is fit to practise or should be struck off: “Please, please allow me the opportunity to maintain my commitment to helping others in the role of clinical psychologist.”

Winter admitted taking the party drug MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, and being under its influence with two clients of the charity at a nightclub in south London in January 2014. She admitted using drugs on several occasions during her leisure time, testing positive for cocaine, and letting two vulnerable young people, known only as clients C and D, stay at her flat.

She told the panel that she is now drug-free and would not blur professional boundaries as she had done at the London-based Kids Company. “I feel disappointed in myself and ashamed to be in this position,” she said. “I have caused such stress and concern to those who care about me and for that I am truly sorry.” Winter said she is now questioning how she could abuse herself in such a way as to be facing the risk of losing “dearly loved career”.

She was speaking after the HCPC panel, sitting in London, found all the charges prove against her. This included an incident in which Winter was seen offering MDMA to a vulnerable young person, known only as client C, in a toilet cubicle.

The panel found that Winter took the class A drug in front of client C and then gave them some. Winter had strenuously denied this. Breaking down several times as she made a statement regarding her actions in 2014, Winter said: “This version of me is someone I do not recognise.”

Winter said she accepted that her actions fell below the standards of a registered psychologist and that it may be seen as hypocritical or contradictory given that she was in a position of trust.

Winter told the panel that she was “deeply remorseful” and that it was “truly awful” to think that she might have played a role in discrediting her colleagues or profession. “If I could go back in time, then I would like to think I would take steps to seek support for myself,” she said.

The case is the latest in a series of damaging episodes against Kids Company, which closed last year following claims it misspent public money. The charity, which is now under the control of administrators, is also being investigated by police from the complex case team of the Met’s sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command.