[h=1]Kids Company boss warns children 'abandoned' by closure[/h]Children's charity, Kids Company, which relied on government funding and private funding from the likes of Coldplay and Sir Richard Branson has closed it's doors (as of 19:00 GMT - 5th August)

 

Via bbc.co.uk

 

The founder of Kids Company has said it will have to "abandon a lot of children" as she confirmed its closure.

 

 

Camila Batmanghelidjh told BBC Radio 4's The Report "rumour-mongering civil servants", ministers and the media had "put the nail" in the charity, which she said would close at 19:00 BST.

 

 

The charity was given a £3m government grant a week ago, despite concerns from the Cabinet Office's lead official.

 

 

Ministers are facing questions over the public funding it received.

 

 

BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said warnings had been sounded as far back as the Labour government.

 

 

"All those reasons, it seems, were put to one side - and the reason, bluntly, is because it appears Kids Company was a charity which enjoyed the protection of Downing Street, under Gordon Brown and David Cameron."

 

 

One source said Mr Cameron was "mesmerised" by Ms Batmanghelidjh and over-ruled concerns raised during funding talks, he added.

 

 

Meanwhile, former children's minister Tim Loughton told the BBC he too had raised concerns about the charity when he was in office.

[h=2]Who is Camila Batmanghelidjh?[/h]

• Camila Batmanghelidjh was born into a wealthy family in Iran. She arrived in England aged 12 and started at the private Sherborne Girls school speaking little English
  
• She gained a first-class degree from Warwick University and then trained as a psychotherapist in London
  
• She founded Kids Company in 1996 and has been its chief executive for 19 years
  
• The charity has branches in London, Bristol and Liverpool, aiming to provide practical, emotional and educational support to some of the most deprived and vulnerable inner-city children
  
• She has won an array of accolades and awards, including a CBE and a series of honorary degrees and fellowships from universities including UCL and the Open University
  
• She was listed among the UK's most powerful women by BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour in 2013
  

Camila Batmanghelidjh profile

Kids Company, which supports deprived young people and their families in London, Bristol and Liverpool, is facing accusations of financial mismanagement.

Measures are being put in place to protect people using its services.

Ms Batmanghelidjh said she had "vigorously" pursued the government for funding, because "we'd run out of every company and every charitable trust that we could potentially get money from".

 

 

The fact that major banks had backed the charity showed it was not "badly run", she said, adding: "As far as I know I acted responsibly - I asked for help early enough and I feel that government failed to honour its responsibility to these most vulnerable children."

 

 

The charity's closure comes after the £3m Cabinet Office grant was made on the condition that Ms Batmanghelidjh, its high-profile chief executive, agreed to step down as part of a reorganisation, as revealed by a joint investigation from BBC Newsnight and BuzzFeed News last month.

 

 

It was finally paid when Ms Batmanghelidjh agreed to step down to take up a new advocacy and clinical role.

 

 

Newsnight policy editor Chris Cook understands attempts are being made to recover the money because the Cabinet Office believes that the conditions attached to its use were not met.

 

 

It has also been revealed the Cabinet Office's lead official raised concerns that the grant, intended for a "transformation and downsizing plan", would be poor value for money, but was told by ministers to press ahead.

sad to hear this. although i don't know about the concerns with the organization, they obviously helped a lot of kids through their years.

All good things come to an end [emoji20]

 

"I live to see the world"

so coldplay had donated £8m to kids company over the years. that's a considerable amount.

x

so coldplay had donated £8m to kids company over the years. that's a considerable amount.

x

Anyone who tries to deny how wonderful they are must be out of their miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind!

 

"I live to see the world"

this is so sad. I don't get it why have they decided to close it! Why agree on giving 3M only if Ms Camila Batmanghelidjh was going to step down, agree on it, then change the agreement & decide to close the foundation?

 

Were there corruption allegations? did the government think that the fund was not used wisely? Do they have a certain disagreement with the lady? Was the only solution is to close a foundation that helps vulnerable children?

 

So sad to see so much good work go to waste

A private donation of a few million was also withdrawn last week, when the police started investigating Kids Company. The police are looking into allegations of abuse and that's tarnished the charity too.

 

Poor financial management seems to be the basis of most things. More and more articles coming out of lavish spending on Camila's headquarters and the hiring of staff, who didn't have an apparent role.

 

Their work has made a massive difference and that won't change but it seems like the bubble was going to burst and having good relations with the prime minister with loads of private donors kept them afloat for a few years.

ohh.. i hope the abuse allegations are not true.. anyway, sustaining a massive charity based around a central figure head can be problematic. that's what seems to have happened. no more under one roof.. to think chris used to scribble that even on his instruments..

How depressing :( There's no denying that Kids Company made such a difference in the lives of kids across the UK even if there was some sort of mismanagement going on

She clearly thought she was indestructible just because she had the ear of the Prime Minister for so long. Swanning about on Newsnight and the likes blaming everyone but herself seems to perfectly capture the nature of her. No doubt her intentions were true but clearly they became corrupted over the last few years.

This whole thing seriously sucks, and the worst part is that the children are the victims :(

 

offtopic: can a mod/admin please correct the grammar mistake in the title? It hurts my eyes ._.

offtopic: can a mod/admin please correct the grammar mistake in the title? It hurts my eyes ._.

 

done.

so coldplay are trying to save a part of kids company! phil is talking about it here. does anyone have full access to this article?

oh man this band :heart::heart::heart:

this is from the kids company 2013 annual report

Coldplay are one of Kids Company’s most significant supporters. Over the years, the band has

donated over £8million to Kids Company as well as buying the Treehouse so that our children

could permanently use it.

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so they are trying to save the Treehouse, which i presume is a youth center. hope it works out.

 

this is what treehouse is:

Kids Company opened the Treehouse in September 2009, replicating the services we offer at our centres in Lambeth.

The Treehouse is a therapeutic educational unit and referral centre in North London, providing practical and emotional support for exceptionally vulnerable children, their families and young people. We provide a safe, caring environment where support is tailored to the needs of each individual.

The Treehouse works in partnership with a variety of agencies and referrals are made to the Treehouse from Schools, Local Authority Education Departments, Children’s Services and Social Services.

The services are delivered through three main programmes – Education for children who are not attending main stream secondary school, an After School Club for under 14s and an Outreach team, working in the local community with young people aged 14-23.

The practical and emotional support offered to our clients is tailored to the needs of each individual and each family. Our services include:

• After School Club Activities for primary school children

• Alternative Secondary Education

• An Olders club for children transitioning out of the After School Club

• Keyworking

• Mentoring

• Systemic Family Support

• Clinical Therapy

• Psychological Assessments

• Speech and Language therapy

• Complementary and Alternative Therapies

• Parenting support group

• Healthy Food Programme

x

What I feel for this band:

 

Call it true, call it truuuuueeeee LOVE [emoji7] [emoji175]

 

"I live to see the world"

Coldplay in talks to save Kids Company?

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3191058/Coldplay-planning-multi-million-pound-bid-rescue-Kids-Company.html[ATTACH]32132[/ATTACH]

They are actually in talks to save 'the Treehouse', an educational center which they are extremely fond of.

 

More info in this BBC article : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-33846026