Kids Company closure: Lambeth and Bristol vow to fund alternative services

Both Lambeth Council in south London and Bristol City Council issued statements saying they will find new providers to run local services that Kids Company delivered for them, with additional support being made available to those helped by the charity until new arrangements have been finalised.

Kids Company closed after the charity’s trustees placed it into insolvency following what it called a dramatic fall in funding this year and amid claims about financial mismanagement.

The charity’s 11 street-level centres in London and Bristol and its outreach project in Liverpool closed their doors on Wednesday night and its work with more than 40 schools in London and Bristol has also ended.

Lambeth Council, where the charity first started 19 years ago, said its priority is to look after the children affected by the closure of Kids Company, which provided a drop-in service for vulnerable children and an adventure playground in the borough under a three-year £193,000 contract signed in 2013.

A council spokesperson said: “The council will re-open these services as soon as possible, so the children and parents who rely on them are not adversely affected. We are also letting children and parents know about the facilities and activities nearby that are open throughout the summer holidays.

“Kids Company also provides after-hours kids’ clubs to some of our schools. Those services are directly negotiated between the school and the charity. We have already written to schools and are helping to ensure that affected after-hours clubs will resume once the summer holidays are over, with a new provider if necessary.”

In Bristol, Kids Company ran six centres providing therapeutic and social work services to six schools in some of the most deprived areas. It also delivered education for children unable to attend mainstream school under a contract with Bristol City Council that was due to end this month. The council said arrangements have already been made for the handover of the contract and promised that there would be no lapse in service.

In addition, the council said discussions had begun with “several different organisations” who might be able to provide alternative services to the six centres closed. A skeleton service to support 40 young people with “high-end needs” who had been helped through the charity’s drop-in centre will be provided by Creative Youth Network over the next two weeks with funding from the council.

John Readman, strategic director for people at Bristol City Council, said: “Our top priority is to keep providing good-quality services to young people and their families, and we’re already at work on arrangements where Kids Company have provided young people with a service.?

“Locally I would reassure everyone that we are well-placed to respond to this loss both with good-quality council provision and a wealth of excellent local organisations which work with young people. This will, however, rely on Kids Company providing us with details of the young people they are engaged with.”??

Liverpool Council said it funded no services from Kids Company, although the charity ran a school performing arts programme in the city.

News of Kids Company’s closure came just weeks after its founder and director Camila Batmanghelidjh agreed to step down as chief executive in order to secure £3m in Cabinet Office funding to enable the organisation to restructure.

In an exclusive interview with CYP Now on Tuesday, 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.

A statement released by the trustees of the charity said: “It is with the greatest sadness and reluctance that we have reached the decision to close Kids Company. We have been forced to do so because collectively, despite the extraordinary efforts of Camila and her team, some truly enlightened philanthropists and the government, we have not been able to continue.

“Kids Company has touched and transformed so many young lives and it is a tragedy that this extraordinary work will come to an end leaving many thousands of vulnerable children, young people and families without hope.

“We are in close touch with the local authorities and other charities to help our children and young people access their services. Right now our priority is trying to secure a future for these children.”

The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils will always “pick up the pieces” when services for vulnerable children are lost.

David Simmonds, chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, said: “When a charity such as Kids Company closes, and it has been providing services commissioned by a council, we will ensure that any vulnerable users are identified and supported appropriately.”