A champagne reception at a Mayfair hotel, a few months ago. A roomful of influential women had gathered to listen and pay homage to the celebrity guest speaker. She was their role model; virtually a living saint.
When she swept into the room in her familiar multi-coloured robes and turban, beaming with her usual beneficence, one could feel the communal love and admiration. The applause for her was warm and extended.
Camila Batmanghelidjh has long been feted as Britain’s undisputed charity queen. Kids Company, which she founded 19 years ago, has helped tens of thousands of vulnerable children and their families from underprivileged and violent inner-city backgrounds in London and, more recently, across the UK.
There was no one else prepared to go so selflessly into battle for these young victims of society’s failings with the same vigour and apparent success as the charismatic Iranian.
Along the way, she became a media darling; a celebrity in her own right, who charmed those sent to interview her, even persuading some to join the Kids Company cause as mentors.
And as she spread the word, Kids Company grew from its modest South London roots to become a national organisation with an annual budget of £25 million, funded by small private donations, major corporations, rock stars and the taxpayer (through government grants).
In 2013, Whitehall gave Kids Company £9 million in funding until March 2015. The Big Lottery Fund has provided £1 million annually.
Naturally, such an achievement brought a slew of awards for Camila.
The so-called ‘Angel of Peckham’ was named Businesswoman Of The Year, Entrepreneur of the year, Most Admired Chief Executive and granted a number of honorary university degrees. In 2013, the BBC named Ms Batmanghelidjh as one of the 100 ‘most powerful’ women in the UK. That same month, she was appointed an honorary Commander of the British Empire.
And yet, the praise and the garlands were not the whole story
Emmanuel Mayah
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