Kids Company charity founder dies aged 61
Social campaigner Camila Batmanghelidjh said to have died on New Year’s Day after lengthy illness ‘I know that some people feel hatred towards me. But I think that’s part of the journey too’
CAMILA BATMANGHELIDJH, the founder of the charity Kids Company, has died aged 61.
The Iranian-belgian social justice campaigner, who started the charity in 1996 in south London to support deprived and vulnerable children and young people living in cities, is said to have died on New Year’s Day after a lengthy illness.
She was forced to step down from the organisation in 2015 following allegations of financial mismanagement that money awarded to children was spent on designer clothes, alcohol and drugs, but she was later cleared of any wrongdoing.
The organisation had been given a substantial grant in 2014 before being awarded a further £3million by Lord Cameron’s government despite it being deemed poor value for money.
It was also reported Batmanghelidjh was paying herself a £90,000 salary at the time the charity closed.
The police looked into the allegations but concluded that there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
Later that year, the charity collapsed following unsubstantiated reports of sexual abuse.
In a previous interview with The Daily Telegraph, Batmanghelidjh said: “I know that some people feel disappointment and hatred towards me. But I think that’s part of the journey too. I have to carry it with grace and be prepared to be hated with grace.”
Her friend Steve Chalke, the founder of the Oasis Charitable Trust and a social activist, tweeted a tribute, saying: “My dear friend Camila Batmanghelidjh has died today.
“I’ll forever be grateful for her wisdom & depth of love for children. Equally, for all she contributed to my understanding as well as to Oasis since 2015 & the untimely, unjust closure of Kids Company. With endless thanks.”
Harriet Harman, the Labour MP for Camberwell and Peckham, said: “Such a sad loss. So many children and young people benefited from her big heart. RIP.”
Batmanghelidjh became known as the “Angel of Peckham” during the mid-2000s. She raised tens of millions of pounds from donors to cover the cost of the charity’s therapeutic work with children. She went on to work for a number of charities including Oasis Community Learning, now one of the largest multi-academy trusts in England, and worked with vulnerable families. Kids Company had a series of directors, including Alan Yentob. She went on to write the book Child
Protection in Britain, which looks at a range of harrowing abuse, including rape and sustained childhood violence.
Kids Company was founded in 1996 to support vulnerable children and young people in London and Bristol.
The charity attracted a number of celebrity backers including Lord Cameron, the pop group Coldplay, artist Damien Hirst and comedian Michael Mcintyre.
A bid was put forward to bar her from running other firms but it was thrown out by the High Court.
Despite proceedings being brought at the High Court in London by the Official Receiver against her and seven of its former trustees, in a ruling in 2021, Mrs Justice Falk concluded that no disqualification order should be made against either Ms Batmanghelidjh or the trustees.
Kids Company reportedly received more than £40million of government funding over 15 years.