Exclusive: Batmanghelidjh speaks out on Kids Company closure

Speaking to CYP Now in a telephone interview Batmanghelidjh claimed there had been a concerted campaign by civil servants briefing against her in recent weeks and also claimed the media had been paying young service users for negative stories about Kids Company.

“There has been a very concerted campaign to discredit me as an individual and the organisation," she said.

“It has caused the organisation such huge damage in relation to fundraising."

She also spoke of her hopes to create a new organisation to carry on the work of Kids Company.

News of the closure comes just weeks after Batmanghelidjh agreed to step down as chief executive in order to secure £3m in Cabinet Office funding to enable the organisation to restructure.

At the time there were claims about financial mismanagement and funds not being properly accounted.

She said she was prevented from saying any more because of the need to secure funding from government to keep services going.

“Up to now I couldn’t really speak because I didn’t want to jeopardise services for the children,” she said.

“But now they have allowed this service to be destroyed in this way I am going to reveal everything.

“They haven’t told the truth about what’s happened.

“Consequently we won’t be able to be operational because of the thoughtless behaviour of political people and civil servants who have briefed inaccurately, and elements of the media who started paying children for stories.

“The whole thing has been the worst possible behaviour towards vulnerable children in this country.”

Batmanghelidjh said she believes a campaign by Kids Company to improve the child protection system, called See the Child Change the System, prompted underhand tactics from government.

“To be frank I think it was the campaign, that started making government nervous,” she said.

“I have been quite forthright about child protection changes in general.

“I wouldn’t keep in a box and shut up.

“A lot of organisations are having to survive and are not able to speak up.

“If you speak up, this is what happens to you. I don’t blame them for not speaking up. The political system buys off elements of the press and because of that you don’t get a balanced analysis of the issues.

“The people who end up paying the price are the vulnerable children and people who have the least power.”

Batmanghelidjh said claims of mismanagement are “absolute rubbish”.

“What would government be doing handing over more than £7m to a mismanaged organisation? Where is the letter that outlines how I am supposed to have mismanaged?

“I hear [former children’s minister] Tim Loughton says he thought we had problems when he was at the Department for Education. He has never written to me saying there’s a problem. He has never raised those concerns with me.

“I have a letter from [former Education Secretary] Michael Gove saying that Kids Company is an organisation that Britain should be proud of. Now they have detonated this organisation and deprived children of provision.

Batmanghelidjh said the organisation’s centres in London, Liverpool and Bristol will be closed immediately, meaning children will be turned away.

But she said she is determined to try to secure funding to create a new organisation to carry on the work of Kids Company.

However, she said 500 staff out of a total of around 650 have agreed to continue to support young people on a voluntary basis.

“Staff have been amazing and a lot of them have said they will keep an eye on the children without being paid until we can maybe find a philanthropist to step in and create an alternative organisation.

“A lot of us started [work with young people] on a park bench and that’s how we’ll have to continue.”

Established in 1996, Kids Company claimed to support around 36,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults in London, Liverpool and Bristol but had recently experienced financial problems.