THE FOUNDER of the Kids Company charity has died at the age of 61.
Camila Batmanghelidjh passed away “peacefully in her sleep” surrounded by her family after celebrating her birthday.
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Camila Batmanghelidjh passed away Credit: brochure
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Camila had just celebrated her birthday before she died Credit: PA: Press Association
It came after a long health battle, but Camila is understood to have “recovered” in recent months.
In a statement released to the Guardian, her family said: “It is with great sadness that the family of Camila Batmanghelidjh announce her death.
“She died peacefully in her sleep on the night of January 1, after celebrating her birthday with her family.
“Camila has dedicated her life to advocating for Britain’s most vulnerable children.
“She was the founder of two ground-breaking charities, Place2Be and Kids Company, which pioneered new therapeutic and clinical models to achieve a singular goal: ‘Seeing children and young people become confident and able to reach their potential’.”
Camila was born in Iran in 1963, the third of four children of a doctor father and his Belgian wife.
She went to school in Dorset before gaining a first degree in Theater and Dramatic Arts from the University of Warwick
In 1991, she started a program for troubled elementary school children called Place2Be, and later founded Kids Company.
It intended to provide youth affected by poverty, abuse, trauma and gang violence.
Originally set up as a drop-in centre, it has expanded to over 40 schools in London and Bristol.
Camila’s work – which used her training in psychotherapy – raised tens of thousands for vulnerable children and earned her the nickname ‘The Angel of Peckham’.
She was appointed an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her services to children and young people.
But the charity gobbled up more than £42m of public funding over 19 years before it collapsed in 2015 after being given £7.3m in the five months before it was axed by minister Oliver Letwin.
This includes emergency funding of £3m from taxpayers in a final bid to keep it afloat.
The charity was shut down amid allegations of financial mismanagement, including Camila being censured by MPs for offering luxury spa holidays and handing out envelopes of cash to individual children.
In August 2017, it was announced that Camila was facing a six-year ban from running a business following the collapse of a charity.
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