Don’t bleat, Camila, YOU’RE not the victim in this sorry mess
Camila Batmanghelidjh is a clever woman. i mean, come on, she must be. Before it went bankrupt, her Kids Company was one of the highest-profile charities in the UK, lavished with millions in donations from the Government, philanthropists and celebrities — including rock group Coldplay, who gave more than £8 million.
Camila supped at high tables, schmoozed with the great and good, she had BBC creative director alan Yentob trotting at her heels like an obedient pug. So you might think she would understand the first rule of crisis management, which is this: when you are in a hole, stop digging.
instead, the beleaguered charity boss swooped on radio and television stations yesterday — yet again! — in a selfrighteous blitz that aimed to explain that whatever had happened, it was not her fault. She blamed the Government, the media, anyone but herself.
On the contrary, Camila presented herself as the victim of the piece.
‘i am being suppressed because i know about sexual abuse claims against senior people,’ she told BBC2’s Victoria Derbyshire, sounding crazier than a drunk fruit bat. She repeated variations on this theme on Radio 4’s Today programme, 5live, BBC News and the Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2. She’s probably still at it, in a studio near you, as we speak.
With the greatest will in the world, the suggestion that Kids Company funding is being stopped and that she is being ‘discriminated’ against because she knows secrets about historical sex abuse concerning members of the Establishment does not seem credible.
and it also suggests that miss Batmanghelidjh was willing to keep quiet, as long as the money kept rolling in.
if all this is true, why is she answering questions in a television station instead of in a police station?
Every time the fluting whine of her distinctive voice assails the airwaves, i find myself wondering why on earth CB is spending all this time and effort trying to protect her own reputation.
SURELY her energies should be directed towards trying to help the vulnerable children who were once protected under the Kids Company umbrella. instead, she dispenses nothing but emotional blackmail; telling John Humphrys how she personally talked down a suicidal teen and crying on Victoria Derbyshire’s sofa at the thought of having to turn away ten-year-old rape victims because she has no money.
look, there is no doubt that Batmanghelidjh has done an enormous amount of good work in a difficult area. However, as accusations of financial mismanagement and other unsavoury accusations continue to swirl around Kids Company and her leadership, the worst thing of all is that the repercussions will be f elt throughout the charity sector.
For this whole, sorry mess does not just reflect badly on the immediate participants; it taints the entire well of charity.
This imbroglio makes everyone just that little bit more wary about giving. it confronts our darkest and worst fears about even the most wellmeaning charities.
Which is that the money we give them rarely goes directly to help the advertised good cause or the neediest case. and that sometimes they are more of a quango than a charity.
The Briti s h people are incredibly generous, even in tough times. However, in the current climate, with private individuals feeling the pinch, the amounts being donated are already going down.
Ordinary people are beginning to get a little fed up of being t argeted by i ncreasingly aggressive charities, chuggers who flood city centres and cold callers at home.
a situation like Kids Company only hardens out hearts at a time when the vulnerable need us the most.
That’s why perhaps someone should explain t o Camila that it was not the ‘disingenuous Government’ who declared her organisation ‘ not fit’ — it was a clutch of hawk- eyed civil servants.
and that the best thing she could do, for herself, for her charity and the charity sector in general, is to help clear up the mess and rumours as quickly as possible.
Smearing others as she continues to burnish her own halo is making matters worse, not better, for everyone. and it is incredibly painful to watch.