Profile: Camila Batmanghelidjh
Jess Brown
Monday, June 6, 2016
After working in child psychology, Camila Batmanghelidjh set up Kids Company in 1996 and has since become an advocate for vulnerable children.
The charity, which was awarded the Liberty and Justice Human Rights Award in 2007, supports thousands of vulnerable inner-city children across London, Bristol and Liverpool.
It offers therapeutic and social work services, aiming to meet the needs of each individual child with its unique ‘wraparound’ approach to care – meaning there are no referrals and waiting lists.
With Batmanghelidjh at the helm, Kids Company has an individual approach includes a policy of never turning anyone away. It has raised million of pounds for children, but Batmanghelidjh has been forced to remortgage her home twice to combat the charity's lack of funding.
Born in Tehran, she was granted asylum at the age of nine. She started working with vulnerable children and the age of 14, and founded her first charity, The Place To Be, in her early twenties.
She has since become a recognisable figure over her career. She has appeared on a BBC Two documentary, Camilla’s Kids, speaks regularly at conferences, and has published a book about disadvantaged children.
