The Cabin in the Woods: A Cautionary Tale
Gender Ideology in Home Education
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The below has been written by a concerned member of the public.
Homeschooling is on the rise in the UK. Last year, the UK government estimated that at least 111,000 children are being home-educated. Many parents are choosing to this path for their children because of concerns around the pushing of gender identity ideology in educational settings.
However, I am sorry to report that such nefarious ideologies are also managing to infiltrate home-schooling.
Down At The Cabin Ltd is a private company (company number 11017497) running ‘The Cabin’ and ‘The Lodge’. It offers, for a fee, activities for home-educated children, aged 5-16, during term time.
Locations were originally split with ‘The Cabin’ located in the village of Berden and ‘The Lodge’ located in Saffron Walden, utilising hired church spaces.
From September 2025, it will be re-locating both of its operations to the Friends Meeting House in Saffron Walden, and promotes a “self-directed, consent-based” education model.
The company’s website emphasises equity, inclusion, and affirmation of “trans, non-binary and gender nonconforming young people”, yet lacks clear safeguarding policies.
Co-founders and facilitators of Down at the Cabin – Gem Kennedy, Max Hope, and Sophie Christophy, openly promote gender identity ideology and “queer theory”.
Their statements, detailed below, reject the binary nature of sex, dismiss legal frameworks like the Equality Act 2010, and advocate for adult concepts like ‘self-identification’ that are not suitable for children. These views raise concerns about child safeguarding, compliance with UK law, and the blurring of boundaries between adult and child spaces. According to the website:
“… We recognize that identities are complex and multi-layered, and that children and young people are at a particularly sensitive stage for exploring, reflecting and ‘growing into themselves’.
We want to bring in resources, materials, people, and activities which will enable us to create spaces for exploring and affirming experiences and identities, including those relating to gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, dis/ability, social class or culture, and age. We will reflect on and challenge our own cultures and practices and we initiate and welcome critical feedback and discussion relating to this…”
Note also within the below image the reference to: “talking about gender – experimenting”.
You can meet ‘The Team’ here. Note the prominent pronoun use:
Max Hope (Co-Founder, Co-Lead at The Lodge):
In a blog post, dated 25 April 2025, Hope rejects the binary nature of sex, stating:
"Sex is not binary. I know that. Darwin knew that. And you do too. Let’s tell the truth. Tear up the rule book and design a new way of living."
In another post, dated 17 April 2025, presumably in response to the recent Supreme Court ruling, Hope explicitly rejects legal protections, saying:
"Fuck the law. Fuck the legal definitions. We have more power than that. Make spaces accessible by actively labelling them as open to women, trans and non-binary folk. Don’t make us go to fucking court."
Sophie Christophy (Co-Founder, Co-Lead):
In a 2022 dialogue with Max Hope, Christophy equates non-conformity with gender identity, stating:
"Patriarchy is a violent fuck up, as is its false notion of a gender binary and binary gender-based socialisation."
This rejection of binary sex and gender norms could confuse children about their biological reality, undermining sex-based protections.
Gem Kennedy (Facilitator):
Kennedy promotes gender identity exploration in her work, stating:
"As a Queer, Trans non-binary, Autistic and ADHD person, I bring a unique viewpoint that’s shaped by my own experiences and the values that matter to me like consent, autonomy, inclusivity, authenticity, and seeing the world through a lens that embraces complexity."
Kennedy’s focus on supporting "queer Autistic folks" and discussing "gender identity", “LGBTQ+ activism”, “children’s rights” and “queering education” on her podcast (‘Queers and Co.’) suggests that she brings these ideologies into work at The Cabin, potentially influencing vulnerable children.
Kennedy’s realisation of being "genderqueer" after seeing herself described as a woman in Pink News further illustrates advocacy for non-binary identities, which do not align with the binary reality of sex recognised in law.
Most concerning of all is the fact that, in 2020, on the ‘Queers and Co.’ podcast (Series 1, Episode 3), Kennedy and Christophy have a discussion, during which, Christophy describes the Cabin as a "queer space" rooted in queer theory:
Sophie: “We chat about children’s rights and how the dominant parent culture is a representation of patriarchy, how schooling is not designed to allow for individuality, queering education and the importance of ed positivity….”
Gem: “Yeah. And I'm conscious of time, but I just wanted to bring in this idea of queering things. So I'm obsessed with queering things, as I know you are.”
Sophie: “Yeah me too.”
Gem: “So the idea of being a queer person in the spaces instantly means for me I think, that I don't have to play by the social norms.”
Sophie: “Yeah sure. You can totally describe this way of being as queer. It's queering from the norms for sure. And to me it's in alignment with a lot of queer theory. If you were going to create a queer ed system then it would look like this, that's my personal opinion. It's rooted in consent, it's open, you're negotiating boundaries, you're able to self-identify, it's very queer. You could say it's a queer space…”
“But especially schools that are often set around strict gender binaries for example, where you can only be a boy or girl and there's a boy/girl uniform and there's boy/girl toilets and all the rest of it. It was something I was worried about. So it was really important to me that the spaces in which my children were growing didn't reinforce any of these traditional issues…”
Joint Statement by Hope and Christophy:
In a 2023 course description for WILD Power, Pride and Prejudice, they claim:
"Penguins, seahorses, clown fish, scarab beetles, spider monkeys, deer, bats … these creatures all exhibit queer and gender non-conforming behaviour. In fact, there is evidence of same-sex behaviour, including co-parenting, in over 1000 species."
If this is the type of narrative seeping into materials and activities for home-educated children, we should be very worried indeed.
Down At The Cabin operates outside the traditional school system and does not meet the criteria of a ‘school’ under government guidance. This exempts it from the scrutiny and safeguarding standards that schools must adhere to (though those aware of what is happening in traditional schools will no doubt understand that scrutiny and safeguarding standards are sorely lacking).
This appears to be born out in its practises. For example, the company, whose staff and volunteers work directly with children in what appear to be regulated activity (e.g., facilitating activities or supervising children), would be legally required to carry out Enhanced DBS checks with a check of the Children’s Barred List for those individuals under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (as amended).
The company is currently recruiting for several role. Yet, there does not appear to be clear vetting procedure on the website, application form or any mention in their job vacancy documents.
There is so much more that I could add regarding the writings of some of the facilitators at ‘The Cabin’ and ‘The Lodge’; between them, they could give Judith Butler a run for her money.
Home educators tend to be very protective of home education and quite rightly value their autonomy. But, where potential harms are apparent, they should not be ignored.
Parents should carefully vet home education providers to ensure that they prioritise child safety and legal compliance over ideological agendas.
Essex County Council might consider taking a look too. Though since Essex CC link to the trans activist organisation, Proud Trust, on their website, I wouldn’t bet on it.
Among all the other things: why is it always the women’s spaces that have to be “open” to the “trans and non-binary folk”?
(Rhetorical question, obviously. 🙄)
These people are actually insane. They would be pitiable if they weren't so dangerous to the children.